What's the difference between contradiction and tautology?

Contradiction


Definition:

  • (n.) An assertion of the contrary to what has been said or affirmed; denial of the truth of a statement or assertion; contrary declaration; gainsaying.
  • (n.) Direct opposition or repugnancy; inconsistency; incongruity or contrariety; one who, or that which, is inconsistent.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) We present a mathematical model that is suitable to reconcile this apparent contradiction in the interpretation of the epidemiological data: the observed parallel time series for the spread of AIDS in groups with different risk of infection can be realized by computer simulation, if one assumes that the outbreak of full-blown AIDS only occurs if HIV and a certain infectious coagent (cofactor) CO are present.
  • (2) The pattern of results is consistent with a role for the dorsal bundle in attentional processes but appears to contradict the predictions required if the dorsal bundle were to have a role in frustrative nonreward.
  • (3) The continence achieved in this case seems to be in contradiction to some of the accepted concepts of the mechanisms of continence.
  • (4) The notion of life-threatening dermatoses may seem to be a contradiction in terms, but in fact there are a number of serious dermatologic conditions that require prompt attention to prevent fatal consequences.
  • (5) This is contradicted, however, by maintained blood pressure and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, increased cardiac output, and reduced peripheral resistance.
  • (6) The observation of myelinated serotonin-containing axons in the white matter of the monkey dorsolateral funiculus contradicts the view that the descending serotoninergic projection consists entirely of unmyelinated fibers, particularly since the conduction velocity of the fine fibers would be too slow to account for the earliest latency of descending inhibition following stimulation in the brainstem.
  • (7) After heading for Rome with his long-term partner, Howard Auster, he returned to fiction with a bestselling novel, Julian, based on the life of a late Roman emperor; a political novel, Washington DC, based on his own family; and Myra Breckinridge, a subversive satire that examined contradictions of gender and sexuality with enough comic brio to become a worldwide bestseller.
  • (8) We suggest that the contradictions can be resolved if one assumes that C1 activation can be both an intra- and intermolecular process; which process dominates is determined by the state of C1 and by experimental conditions.
  • (9) He then went on to contradict the claims made by Attenborough in his own Radio Times article by stating that the polar bear population is, in fact, rising, Antarctic sea ice is expanding, and there was "no global warming at all" in the last quarter of the 20th century.
  • (10) The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest organised political movement, added its voice to the chorus of discontent, accusing Scaf of contradicting 'all human, religious and patriotic values' with their callousness and warning that the revolution that overthrew former president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year was able to rise again.
  • (11) "Well…" His delightful press secretary, Lena, starts giggling as her boss tries to unknot himself from this contradiction.
  • (12) With respect to the issue of complexity in perception, the findings clearly contradicted the notion that dieters simply dichotomize food into "good" and "bad" categories.
  • (13) Theresa May’s plan for a loose alliance with the Democratic Unionists to prop up her government was thrown into confusion on Saturday night after the Northern Ireland party contradicted a No 10 announcement that a deal had been reached.
  • (14) However, some facts observed contradict the validity of this hypothesis for coronary artery SMC in contrast to taenia caeci: 1) elevation of external Ca2+ concentration did not affect the time course of ICa inactivation; 2) inactivation of In.s., i.e.
  • (15) Merkel’s interior and finance ministers, both in the same party, regularly contradict her.
  • (16) When he had those Aids I went to my synagogue and I prayed for him.” Sterling said he admired Johnson, 53, as a “good” man, then contradicted himself.
  • (17) They want to destroy them all because they know there are lots of discrepancies and contradictions in them."
  • (18) The unexpected announcement by Eric Holder, the attorney general, contradicts Utah’s refusal to recognise some 1,300 same-sex marriages that were licensed during a brief window in December when a federal judge ruled the state’s ban was unconstitutional .
  • (19) According to the results in hand there exists a contradiction to the opinions hitherto existing about a distinct age dependence in the bone structure and distinct sex differences in the findings of the structures of the Ist order.
  • (20) We arrive also to the conclusion that, in contradiction with what we have seen in the literature overview, it seems that narcissistic personality disorders have no negative effect on literary creation.

Tautology


Definition:

  • (n.) A repetition of the same meaning in different words; needless repetition of an idea in different words or phrases; a representation of anything as the cause, condition, or consequence of itself, as in the following lines: --//The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers,/And heavily in clouds brings on the day. Addison.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Two studies are reported in which subjects rated the acceptability of different tautological constructions either alone (Experiment 1) or with supporting contextual information (Experiment 2).
  • (2) Barton rubs Old Firm up the wrong way Joey Barton apologises ‘unreservedly’ after being sent home by Rangers Read more The phrase “Joey Barton Twitter storm” is pretty much a tautology, so it was no surprise that his decision to sign for Rangers in May had social media in a kerfuffle when his 2012 tweet – “I am a Celtic fan” – was dredged up so that it might be subject to calm and sober scrutiny from all concerned.
  • (3) These 5 were classified into 2 operations of varying the independent variable, 2 of holding the independent variable constant, and tautology.
  • (4) If Farage was tempted to reply that his opponent trades in a cut-price political rhetoric that reduces debate to a bewildering brew of slogans, tautologies and clap-lines, he chose instead to occupy the argumentative high ground – or as close as Ukippers get to it.
  • (5) What do tautological phrases such as Boys will be boys, A promise is a promise, or War is war mean and how are they understood?
  • (6) None of the other freedoms are as free as they were meant to be, so how about we make this freedom a bit less of a freedom to make it more in line with the other non-freedoms.” Caught up in the tautology of his argument, the prime minister went on to make ever wilder and contradictory claims.
  • (7) However, this tautologic upper limit does not uniquely define the critical duration.
  • (8) Duration judgments were explaned predominantly by succession, whereas succession judgments were explained tautologically or by mere "seeing."
  • (9) This is what passes for significant thought in the GOP: new scare facts colliding with new anecdotes of meetin’ folks, all to explain re-synonymized tautologies.
  • (10) Our results indicate that glucoreceptor cells in tissues perfused by carotid arteries may play a tautological role in the sympathetic response to hypoglycemia and imply that glucose-sensitive receptors must also be located elsewhere in the central nervous system or in the periphery.
  • (11) They are nothing more, Stewart now acknowledges, than tautologies.
  • (12) Confining the diagnosis of schizophrenia to the severe cases indicates a conservative, perhaps tautological, approach to this diagnosis.
  • (13) To avoid tautology, the nature of these was confirmed by immunostaining for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and factor VIII-related antigen (FVII RAg).
  • (14) The first is a tautology lacking explanatory power.
  • (15) The reasoning may be questioned because of faulty inferential leaps, undue reliance on the concept of 'maturity', the use of a tautology, ('The dependent person is...dependent'), internal contradictions, and a questionable analogy between children's and adults' behaviour.
  • (16) The basic tenet of twin biology, that most twin excess anomalies are due to MZs, is a myth self-perpetuated by a methodological tautology, and is false, at least for mortality.
  • (17) It is argued that since Heather & Robertson's 'new' approach incorporates a set of assumptions parallel to those of the disease concept it is equally tautological, and therefore does not represent the type of change in paradigm they propose.
  • (18) Historian and MP Tristram Hunt is indicted for "tautology and other errors".
  • (19) It is this devotion to the infinitely unknown that makes Hugo so meticulous in giving the reader Valjean's prison numbers; and why Valjean's name is almost a tautology.
  • (20) Forensic factors were found to be positively related to length of admission; and motivation for treatment--a problematic concept which has frequently been regarded as tautologous--is also discussed.