Have you heard the words?

I couldn't really resist this topic, as it's something that's popped into my mind off and on over the years.  Well, that and I've had copious amounts of caffeine and am easily amused at the moment.  Hopefully you find it amusing too and share with your friends!  If not, that's cool too.  But anyway *ahem*.

So I was playing Chefville with my lovely mumsie earlier, and there's these catering "missions" you have to do.  One of the objectives is to make 15 chilly gazpachos. 

The conversation went something like this:

Me: Gazpacho is fun to say.  Say it out loud!  "Gahs-pah-cho"
Mom: lol you're weird but I love you LMAO
Me:  Did you say it out loud? It's awesome.  "gahs-pah-cho"
Mom:  Yes honey  <(^.^)>
Me:  <(^.^)>
Mom:  What does it mean?
Me: Gazpacho (Spanish pronunciation: [gasˈpatʃo]) is usually a tomato-based, vegetable soup, traditionally served cold, originating in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía. Gazpacho is widely consumed in Spanish cuisine, as well as in neighboring Portugal, where it is known as gaspacho (Portuguese pronunciation: [gɐʃˈpaʃu]). Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its refreshing qualities and cold serving temperature.

Hmm.. makes calling it "chilly gazpacho" sort of redundant doesn't it? Since it's traditionally served cold... I am going to call them redundant soups from now on.

 

*time passage*

Me: While doing some research on redundancies in the English language, I also came across some interesting stuff!!!

Mom: Oh no

(heh does she know me or what?)

This got me thinking of other redundancies we have in the English language and got me to do a little research.  Did you know that a redundant expression is also called a pleonasm?  I didn't either!!  That's also kind of fun to say out loud... "plee-oh-nasm"...

Some of these terms I hadn't really even given a lot of thought to really as they're used quite commonly.  But if you really stop to think about some of them... they don't really make a lot of sense.

PIN number: Personal Identification Number number?

ATM machine:  Automated Teller Machine machine?

AC or DC current:  Alternate Current current or Direct Current current?

LCD display: Liquid Crystal Display display

VIN number: Vehicle Identification Number number

Then we have these lovely phrases!!

"Free gift."  Last I checked, gifts were usually free, yes?

"Unexpected surprise." Well, if you were expecting it, it really wouldn't be a surprise now would it?

"When the baby was born."  As opposed to... adults being born?

"Armed gunman." As opposed to an unarmed gunman?

(To borrow from the late, great George Carlin) "I said, I'd like to buy a hot water heater.  What the hell for? Hot water doesn't need to be heated.  You must mean a cold water heater!?.. or how about a hot water cooler?"

 

And gems like foreign imports, cease and desist, empty hole, same exact, live studio audience, looking back in hindsight, serious danger...

I could probably go on, but I think it was just neat to take a step back and think about some of the really odd things we say without really putting a lot of thought into what we are actually saying. Just a thing to make you go hmmmm...