![]() ![]() Others, however, use this expression only to indicate a distinction between ontological possibility and epistemic possibility, as in "Both the ontological possibility of X under current conditions and the ontological impossibility of X under current conditions are epistemically possible" (in logical terms, "I am not aware of any facts inconsistent with the truth of proposition X, but I am likewise not aware of any facts inconsistent with the truth of the negation of X"). Many speakers of English use such expressions for possibility in general, such that most instances of such expressions by those speakers are in fact pleonastic. When expressing possibility, English speakers often use potentially pleonastic expressions such as It might be possible or perhaps it's possible, where both terms (verb might or adverb perhaps along with the adjective possible) have the same meaning under certain constructions. They are so common that their use is unremarkable and often even unnoticeable for native speakers, although in many cases the redundancy can be dropped with no loss of meaning. Some pleonastic phrases are part of a language's idiom, like tuna fish and safe haven in American English. ![]() Pleonasm can serve as a redundancy check if a word is unknown, misunderstood, misheard, or if the medium of communication is poor-a wireless telephone connection or sloppy handwriting-pleonastic phrases can help ensure that the meaning is communicated even if some of the words are lost. Pleonasm sometimes serves the same function as rhetorical repetition-it can be used to reinforce an idea, contention or question, rendering writing clearer and easier to understand. It can aid in achieving a specific linguistic effect, be it social, poetic or literary. Most often, pleonasm is understood to mean a word or phrase which is useless, clichéd, or repetitive, but a pleonasm can also be simply an unremarkable use of idiom. Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature. Pleonasm may also be used for emphasis, or because the phrase has become established in a certain form. It is a manifestation of tautology by traditional rhetorical criteria and might be considered a fault of style. Pleonasm ( / ˈ p l iː ə n æ z ə m/ from Ancient Greek πλεονασμός, pleonasmós, from πλέον, pleon 'to be in excess') is redundancy in linguistic expression, such as "black darkness" or "burning fire".
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