Repeating self is a common problem in written and spoken English, however, it can be more prevalent while speaking, especially when it comes to expressions.

Redundant expressions are defined as phrases made up of two or more words that same idea or echo the same meaning.

Some of these expressions are used for emphasis. Being able to communicate properly doesn’t come natural but with a lot of practice and intentionality.  You should try to avoid words with overlapping meaning that make your phrase redundant. So redundant words can be forgiven in spoken English but hardly same while writing

Below are some of the common redundant phrases;

Free Gift – A gift is typically free

Cease and desist – You either cease or desist. Either way, you stop doing something

New Recruits – There are no old recruits

Consensus of Opinion – Consensus means agreement of opinion, so why repeat opinion?

Null and Void – Its either Null or Void

Fatal Killings – All killings are fatal

Unexpected surprise – surprises are unexpected

Other Alternative – an alternative is always the other option

Repeat again – when you something you always do it again

Sum Total – A sum is total amount through addition

Past History – History is something that happened in the past

Still remain – When something remains, it is still that thing

Added Bonus – a bonus is always something that is added

Plan ahead – when you plan something, you already do it ahead of time

Revert back – when you revert something, you take it back to its former state

End Result – There is no result at the beginning, the result is always at the end.

New Innovations – if its an innovation then its new

Twelve midnight – midnight is always at 12am, so we can drop twelve without losing any meaning.

Do share other redundant phrases with us in the comment section. Also bear in mind that while avoiding redundancies, you will need to be careful about which term you remove. In most cases, you should always remove the modifying term (adjective or adverb), not the term being modified (verb).