lapalissade

Meaning

lapalissade, truism, tautology

Concepts

truism

tautology

Synonyms

truisme

tautologie

pléonasme

Lapalissade

Translations

perogrullada

Binsenwahrheit

verità lapalissiana

tautologia

tautología

tautologia

tautologie

tautologia

Tautologie

truismo

Doppelaussage

banalità

lapalissiano

ovvietà

obvietat

Pronounced as (IPA)

/la.pa.li.sad/

Etymology

From the name of Jacques de la Palice (a French nobleman and military officer, died in the Battle of Pavia, 1525) + -ade. His epitaph reads ci gît Monſieur de la Palice: s'il n'était pas mort, il ferait encore envie (“here lies the lord of La Palice: if he weren't dead, he would still be envied”). However, due to the similarity between the letters ⟨f⟩ and ⟨ſ⟩ (long s), it was misread (accidentally or intentionally) as the truism s'il n'était pas mort, il serait encore en vie (“if he weren't dead, he would still be alive”).