Some phrases exude redundancy and illogic. I sometimes wonder if people think, “If one word is good, two is better – if I say it twice, people will be sure to understand me.” In refuting this view, I quote Thomas Jefferson, who said, “Never use two words when one will do.” Here is a partial list of phrases that contain at least one excess word:
- Win out – What would it mean to “win in”?
- Reduce down – How else could you reduce but down?
- Natural talent – Isn’t all talent natural? That’s what makes it talent. Skill is acquired; talent is inherited.
- Delete out – Just say delete and get it over with.
- Resume again – Resume means start again; there is no need for again.
- Future planning – I have noticed that planning for the past is a waste of precious time.
- Advance reservations – Did you ever try to make reservations for something in the past?
- General consensus – By definition, a consensus is general.
- Very unique – This one generates a lot of email for me. The root of unique is uni, which means one. This means that by definition something can only be unique if there is only one of it. Saying something is “very unique” or “more unique” transgresses the ironclad rule against qualifying an absolute. One means one – it is absolute.
And then we have three backs:
- Return back
- Revert back
- Respond back
The prefix re in all these words implies that the root idea is being done again. Thus, adding the word back to indicate repetition is redundant. Returning is going back Reverting is turning back. Responding is talking back. If you are using the re word, you don’t need back.
More redundancies will appear in future blog posts. In the meantime, please send me your examples. I’m sure there are more than I can think of. Send ideas to Elizabeth.