A Reduncancy, or is it A Pleonasm?

Here’s the sentence, from an article about insomnia in the Spring 2029 New Scientist:

If pills aren’t necessarily the answer for people with insomnia, neither are overly simplistic behavioural interventions.

“Simplistic means “overly simple.” You don’t need the separate word “overly.”

So you’re either repeating “overly,” which is a redundancy, or you’re just inserting the unnecessary word “overly,” which is a pleonasm. Take your pick.

Sorry, no picture.

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A redundancy is when two (or more) words that mean the same thing appear in a sentence, and one of the words is unnecessary. This redundancy is so common, most people don’t notice it. Can you spot it?

Yup, it’s “tiny little.” Do you ever say that?

Thanks, Wayne.

Vocabulary Tip: Unsolved mysteries are just mysteries.

My comment:

We call this error a solecism, a pleonasm, or a redundancy. If you use either of those first two words with redundancy, it’s an example of itself!

Details:

• Solecism: any mistake in grammar
• Pleonasm: extra word
• Redundancy: saying the same thing twice unnecessarily

Sigh. Another hobbyhorse of mine. Redundancy is when you say (or write) the same thing twice, unnecessarily repeating yourself. You don’t need both “first” and “original.”

I got it from a friend-of-a-friend’s Facebook post.

English is rather inconsistent when it comes to idioms. Last two panels.

I admit, this is an old joke. The correct answer, though, is to be consistent by saying just “tuna sandwich.”