Hi all,
Don’t you think this sentence is wrong? - “Repeat that again.”
As far as I know, repeat itself means doing something again. That means the word ‘again’
shouldn’t be there in this sentence.
Please elaborate on this and correct me if I am wrong.
Regards,
Sawan
I think “repeat that again” means to repeat something one more time, after it has already been repeated once. So after that it is repeated twice.
Hi Sawan,
I believe you are right – again is redundant.
Repeat that again I believe is what they call to be a pleonasm because ‘‘again’’ is inherent to ‘‘repeat’’.
My observation is that, for some reason, people tend to say ‘‘Repeat that again’’ quite often and I have to admit that I do too, even though I know I shouldn’t.
Anyway, I would say that is true when people mean to ask someone to repeat something that was said just once.
Let’s have an example here-
A.Teacher: We’ve a holiday tomorrow.
B.Student: What? Could you repeat that, please.
C.Teacher: We’ve a holiday tomorrow.
D.Student: I don’t believe what I just heard. Could you repeat it again?
I think in ‘D’ it’s correct to say “repeat it again” but not in ‘B’
“Repeat that again” is correct wherever it requests further repetition. It is incorrect wherever it requests initial repetition.
If I return a defective item once, I have merely returned it. If I have to return it a second time, I must return it again. There’s no difference between that and “repeat.” Can a person be rehabilitated more one than once? Indeed.
It looks like all four of us agree on that, Sawan.
Thank you so much for sharing your views with me.
Sawan