Tautophrase

A tautophrase is a phrase or sentence that is tautological, meaning that it repeats an idea with the same words. The name was coined in 2006 by William Safire in The New York Times.

Examples include:

"Brexit means Brexit" (Theresa May)
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" (John Wayne)
"It ain't over 'till it's over" (Yogi Berra)
"What's done is done" (Shakespeare's Macbeth)
"Tomorrow is tomorrow" (Antigone (Sophocles))
"A rose is a rose is a rose" (Gertrude Stein)
"A man's a man for a' that" (Robert Burns)
"Facts are facts"
"Enough is enough"
"Let bygones be bygones"
"A deal is a deal is a deal"
"Once it's gone, it's gone"
"It is what it is"
"If you know, you know"
"Boys will be boys"
"A win is a win"
"You do you"
"A la guerre comme à la guerre" — A French phrase literally meaning "at war as at war", and figuratively roughly equivalent to the English phrase "All's fair in love and war"
Qué será, será or Che será, será — English loan from Spanish and Italian respectively, meaning "Whatever will be, will be."
"Call a spade a spade"
"Once you’re committed, you’re committed"
"What will be, will be"
"What wins out wins out"
"I don’t care how much you know, if you get caught in a fire, you’re caught in a fire"
"Game is game"

References[edit]

Safire, William (2006). "On language: Tautophrases" The New York Times, May 7, 2006.

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