Tautologies

[Eamonnca1]

Irish Taoiseach.

[Clov]

Are there any examples of tautologies in this thread?

Referring to Sharia as Sharia law tells a naive informant what sort of thing Sharia is (cf. Brehon law).

Irish Taoiseach is a pleonasm, not a tautology, as Taoiseach is not the same the same thing as Irish.

[Eamonnca1]

Sharia law actually is a tautology.

Is there a British Taoiseach? I thought the head of governments in other countries were referred to as Príomh Aire.

[Clov]

Sharia law actually is a tautology.

Is there a British Taoiseach? I thought the head of governments in other countries were referred to as Príomh Aire.

A tautology is saying the same thing twice over. Is 'Irish' and 'taoiseach' the same thing? Clearly not.
A pleonasm is a redundancy in speech. As Taoisigh (in the sense the term is used in English) only ever refer to Irish leaders the Irish prefix is redundant. Hence pleonasm.

[Eamonnca1]

Okay, fair enough.