Great epidose, strange line?

[Ensign_Redshirt]

^^^

Another possibility is that the universal translator accidentally translated for us a Klingon proper name as "Imperial" because that's what the name means. Just as you might say the Chinese Ming Dynasty, Picard might've said the Klingon Klorg Empire, but "klorg" is also the Klingonese word for "imperial."

Do I sound too much like, Timo?

If you want an in-universe explanation... Capt. Picard misspoke. The guy makes mistakes too. And nobody on the bridge corrected him, because a) it wasn't so important that moment, everybody knew what he meant and b) he's the captain. (I think Barack Obama once referred to the "57 states" in the U.S. too ).

 

[Trekker4747]

The UT has also shown itself to be very, very capable and dynamic almost to the point of mind-reading. It knows when you want to say the un-translated word and when you want to say the translated word, which is why we often hear characters speak in foreign tongues. So that the translator would make that kind of slip is unlikely.

"Imperial Empire" if you really want to "explain it" could just mean one, or both, of the words grew an additional meaning over the course of time.

 

[Doug Otte]

Oligarchy, schmoligarchy. Nothing changes the fact that, in the English language, “Imperial Empire” is a tautology — like “famous celebrity,” “new innovation,” “dangerously unsafe,” or “kills bugs dead.”

Since we're diving into the weeds on this thread, I must point out that it's a redundancy, not a tautology.

Doug