Quote:
Well, you don't have to hop across languages or travel through time to see
this kind of redundancy in action. We have the ATM machine and VAT tax and
AC current in the English language.


I'm reminded of that most common of redundancies, "the hoi polloi," or "the the many." Ironic.
At the ATM machine, we use our PIN number. We contact the CDC center if we get the HIV virus.
I wonder if it's more the pleasing aural rhythm than anything semantic that's at the root of these patterns? Kind of like a lot of tautologies: "to advocate for," rather than simply "to advocate"?

Cheers