Department of Redundancy Department

Etymology

The term gained attested usage in books in the 1970s. The term is deliberately redundant because the word department is repeated.

Proper noun

Department of Redundancy Department

1. (humorous) A fictitious department that is cited to draw attention to needless repetition or excessiveness.
   • 1985, Datamation

     It is a redundancy of information processing as well as other efforts. Redundancy can take many forms. Most commonly, it is two or more people or organizations doing similar work for similar purposes and producing (it is hoped) similar (redundant) results. The Department of Redundancy Department exists because a great many people are doing a great many similar things with identical but separate data. If the use of data were controlled, these people and things would be known.

   • 1989, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education

     Many students in graduate school make tongue-in-cheek comments about the redundancy contained in most dissertations: "If the sentence isn't in there three times, it's not important. . . . this dissertation resulted from a grant from the Department of Redundancy Department." Ellis's work is an excellent example of a paper written with every apparent attempt to avoid redundancy; it is concise, brief, definitely not wordy, and reports data on an important problem.

   • 2007, Ellen Sandbeck, Organic Housekeeping: In Which the Non-Toxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity, Simon and Schuster (→ISBN), page 225

     A Message from the Department of Redundancy Department: There is almost nothing less efficient than having to do a job over again.

   • 2012, Steve Burton, Staying Afloat: Three Years in Abu Dhabi, iUniverse (→ISBN), page 152

     A driver's immersion certificate, my fictitious wallpaper diploma, is not a prerequisite to receive a UAE driver's license. But it should be. Likewise, basic driving coursework is not a requirement. But it should be. In my eccentric dreams, I suggested to the Driver Education Department, a subdepartment of the Department of Higher Complexity, or possibly the Department of Redundancy Department, that the following classes become mandatory: Course – Basic UAE Freeway Driving 1A ...

   • 2014, Robert Stetson, The Beguilers a Warning, Lulu Press, Inc (→ISBN)

     Wellness Assurance and Reassessment Information, better known as the D.O.W.E.R.I. Department. I laugh and say, “Only the government can start and end the name of a department with the word 'department.'” Ernie says, “Yes, perhaps we should report the repetition problem to the Department of Redundancy Department.”

   • 2015, John E. Purple, 4F: Finding Fenn's Factory Foibles: A Working Boy's Path to the Navy, FriesenPress (→ISBN), page 55

     One of the briefers was a real comedian, introducing himself as from the Department of Redundancy Department—a phrase I am fond of quoting in my own talks since then.