I've learned a new word!

By definition surprises are unexpected. That makes a phrase such as that redundant. It's not an oxymoron because I'm not joining together two conflicting terms. But other than redundant, is there a word for that? It turns out that there is - it's a pleonasm. The site Atkins Bookshelf explains:

A pleonasm is a rhetorical device (why do all rhetorical devices sound like nasty medical conditions?) that uses more words than are necessary to express a concept clearly, either for emphasis, fault of style (redundancy) or because it is an established phrase or idiom. The word is derived from the Greek word pleon, meaning "more, too much."

I admittedly suffer from using three words when one will suffice. Clearly I'll never be a Hemingway, though in my defense I can state that I don't strive to be. Still, a good editor's red pencil could probably considerably shorten many of these columns.

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