Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Legal Redundancy

A friend mentioned this the other day and I can't find an answer.

Why is it "cease and desist"? Both words mean the same thing. Same for "null and void"?

"Breaking and entering" are two different things, and "assault and battery" are at least subtly different. But the first two just seem redundant.

2 comments:

Irina said...

Read this: http://www.wordfocus.com/pleonasm.html.
I think this is as good an explanation of legal and other redundancies as any. Satisfied me.

Howard said...

Thanks, that does seem perfectly legitimate :)