{"id":2527,"date":"2017-08-08T23:26:17","date_gmt":"2017-08-09T05:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2527"},"modified":"2020-11-25T11:23:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T17:23:54","slug":"striking-the-surplus-from-tautologies-follow-up-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/striking-the-surplus-from-tautologies-follow-up-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Striking the Surplus from Tautologies (Follow-Up 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0newsletter article in late April<\/a>\u00a0addressed the matter of the\u00a0tautology<\/em>\u00a0(also known as a\u00a0pleonasm<\/em>), the \u201cneedless repetition of an idea, statement, or word.\u201d We provided several such examples of overweight phrases and suggested how to trim them back into shape.<\/p>\n

Several readers responded in defense of certain phrases, sharing that what seemed to be a modifier repeating a noun\u2019s meaning was in fact integral to communicative clarity.<\/p>\n

The phrases receiving the most feedback deserve further review to support a wider understanding of why the careful writer will work to tighten them.<\/p>\n

Today and next week we\u2019ll address the top three. We\u2019ll begin with the phrase receiving the most comments:<\/p>\n

Contested Tautology #1:\u00a0Vast Majority<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many readers felt the adjective\u00a0vast<\/em>\u00a0is needed for the concept of far more than half of a group. According to several,\u00a0majority<\/em>\u00a0alone could mean 51 percent, a\u00a0slim<\/em> majority. Without\u00a0vast,<\/em> the reader might not realize the majority was much greater, perhaps 90 percent.<\/p>\n

To explore the issue further, we\u2019ll first look at common definitions of\u00a0majority<\/em>\u00a0from two popular sources:<\/p>\n

[dictionary.com<\/a>]
\n1. the greater part or number; the number larger than half the total (opposed to minority).
\n2. a number of voters or votes, jurors, or others in agreement, constituting more than half of the total number.
\n3. the amount by which the greater number, as of votes, surpasses the remainder (distinguished from plurality).<\/p>\n

[Merriam-Webster<\/a>]
\n3 a: a number or percentage equaling more than half of a total (a majority of voters, a two-thirds majority); b: the excess of a majority over the remainder of the total (margin won by a majority of 10 votes); c: the greater quantity or share (the majority of the time).<\/p>\n

At the outset, advocating for either\u00a0slim\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0vast<\/em>\u00a0to convey the degree of a majority seems reasonable. At the same time, we want to reinforce our mission to be careful, attentive writers and grammarians. This involves being specific to avoid varying interpretations.<\/p>\n

To that aim, we\u2019ll ask ourselves what a\u00a0vast majority<\/em>\u00a0is. To some, it could be 67\u00a0percent; to others, 73\u00a0percent; and to yet others, perhaps the most justified, 92\u00a0percent.<\/p>\n

Conversely, a\u00a0slim majority<\/em>\u00a0could be perceived as 59\u00a0percent, 62\u00a0percent, or, among the most justified, 51\u00a0percent.<\/p>\n

Rather than write “The bill passed by a slim majority,” write “The bill barely passed with 52\u00a0percent of the vote.” Rather than write “A vast majority of stockholders believe company leadership should change,” write “Eighty-three percent of stockholders believe company leadership should change” or “More than three-fourths of stockholders…” Such specifics serve your readers (or listeners) to a greater effect.<\/p>\n

The noun phrase can still be classified as a tautology depending on how the definition of\u00a0majority<\/em>\u00a0is being applied. However, we also expand the matter to be one of precision (as opposed to solely an instance of a repetitive noun and modifier).<\/p>\n

We put forth that potentially tautological phrases such as\u00a0slim majority\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0vast majority<\/em>\u00a0are acceptable in writing if they are supported by information that specifies what the\u00a0slim\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0vast majority\u00a0<\/em>is\u2014e.g., charts, graphs, percentage numbers in text.<\/p>\n

Next week we\u2019ll revisit the tautologies\u00a0identical match<\/em> and\u00a0invited guest.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0newsletter article in late April\u00a0addressed the matter of the\u00a0tautology\u00a0(also known as a\u00a0pleonasm), the \u201cneedless repetition of an idea, statement, or word.\u201d We provided several such examples of overweight phrases and suggested how to trim them back into shape. Several readers responded in defense of certain phrases, sharing that what seemed to be a modifier repeating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-effective-writing","category-idioms"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}