Tautology: Difference between revisions

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
No edit summary
Tag: sourceedit
No edit summary
Tag: 2017 source edit
 
(12 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{wikipediainfo|Tautology (grammar)}}
{{wikipediainfo|Tautology (grammar)}}
{{you may|Tautology (short story)|n1=the short story}}
{{you may|Tautology (short story)|n1=the short story}}
'''Tautology''' was the unnecessary repetition of words that effectively meant the same thing. The [[Sixth Doctor]] explained that "Galapagos" meant tortoise, and so the Galapagos tortoise was really the "tortoise tortoise." ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Bloodtide (audio story)|Bloodtide]]'')
'''Tautology''' was the unnecessary repetition of words that effectively meant the same thing. The [[Sixth Doctor]] explained that "Galapagos" meant tortoise, and so the Galapagos tortoise was really the "tortoise tortoise". ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Bloodtide (audio story)}})


[[Luke Rattigan]] was irritated by people who used tautology, particularly when the [[Tenth Doctor]] called his invention the "ATMOS system" when ATMOS already stood for "[[Atmospheric Omission System]]". This would be the equivalent of saying "Atmospheric Omission System system". The Doctor found Luke's reaction to the tautology insightful to the boy's personality. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'')
[[Luke Rattigan]] was irritated by people who used tautology, particularly when the [[Tenth Doctor]] called his invention the "[[ATMOS]] system" when ATMOS already stood for "Atmospheric Omission System". This would be the equivalent of saying "Atmospheric Omission System system". The Doctor found Luke's reaction to the tautology insightful to the boy's personality. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)}})


The [[Fourth Doctor]] found the [[GlobeSphere]] company name a bit tautological, ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Energy of the Daleks (audio story)|Energy of the Daleks]]'') while the [[Eighth Doctor]] later thought of the phrase "tidal wave" as pointlessly tautological since all waves are tidal. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Next Life]]'')
The [[Fourth Doctor]] found the [[GlobeSphere]] company name a bit tautological, ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Energy of the Daleks (audio story)}}) while the [[Eighth Doctor]] later thought of the phrase "tidal wave" as pointlessly tautological since all waves are tidal. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Next Life (audio story)}})


The [[Eleventh Doctor]]'s description of [[Ice Warrior]]s as "[[biomechanoid]] [[cyborg]]s" was tautological as biomechanoids are cybernetic organisms. ([[TV]]: ''[[Cold War (TV story)|Cold War]]'')
[[Professor]] [[Frederick Marius]] used the tautologies "at about eleven hundred hours this morning" and "a tiny little square of metal" in his [[computer]] [[diary]], for which he chided himself. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Tautology (short story)}})


[[Category:Linguistics]]
== Behind the scenes ==
The title of the episode ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|Deadly Assassin]]'' is considered by many to be a tautology as an assassin's job is to be deadly. However, [[Robert Holmes]] denied that the title was tautological, saying, "There are plenty of incompetent assassins." This redundancy was parodied in the spoof ''[[The Curse of Fatal Death (TV story)|The Curse of Fatal Death]]''.
 
[[Category:Linguistics from the real world]]

Latest revision as of 21:09, 17 January 2024

Tautology
You may be looking for the short story.

Tautology was the unnecessary repetition of words that effectively meant the same thing. The Sixth Doctor explained that "Galapagos" meant tortoise, and so the Galapagos tortoise was really the "tortoise tortoise". (AUDIO: Bloodtide [+]Loading...["Bloodtide (audio story)"])

Luke Rattigan was irritated by people who used tautology, particularly when the Tenth Doctor called his invention the "ATMOS system" when ATMOS already stood for "Atmospheric Omission System". This would be the equivalent of saying "Atmospheric Omission System system". The Doctor found Luke's reaction to the tautology insightful to the boy's personality. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem [+]Loading...["The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)"])

The Fourth Doctor found the GlobeSphere company name a bit tautological, (AUDIO: Energy of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Energy of the Daleks (audio story)"]) while the Eighth Doctor later thought of the phrase "tidal wave" as pointlessly tautological since all waves are tidal. (AUDIO: The Next Life [+]Loading...["The Next Life (audio story)"])

Professor Frederick Marius used the tautologies "at about eleven hundred hours this morning" and "a tiny little square of metal" in his computer diary, for which he chided himself. (PROSE: Tautology [+]Loading...["Tautology (short story)"])

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The title of the episode Deadly Assassin is considered by many to be a tautology as an assassin's job is to be deadly. However, Robert Holmes denied that the title was tautological, saying, "There are plenty of incompetent assassins." This redundancy was parodied in the spoof The Curse of Fatal Death.