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Needless to Say
By
Dave Dowling
The needless repetition of words and the repeating of ideas is everywhere - in newspapers, books, magazines, e-mails, television, and even in conversation. They’re called redundancies and the English language is full of them. In fact, research shows that about 50 percent of English is redundant.
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Although not considered major grammatical errors like comma splices, fragments, and subject-verb disagreements, redundancies can reflect unclear, unnecessary, or indirect communication. In short, these extraneous words can be a roadblock to accuracy, brevity, and clarity. Because an audience can recognize and appreciate precise language, protect your writing from being bulky and avoid saying the same thing twice. Remember, the direct way is always the best way. |
Many times, repetitive prose can be eliminated without incurring any loss of the intended meaning. To coincide with our first article on redundancies, here are a few more examples of common clutter we should be aware of. (The needless words are in parentheses.)
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(absolute) guarantee |
(actual) experience |
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(baby) calf |
(bad) trouble |
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(best) ever |
(careful) scrutiny |
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(cease and) desist |
(definite) decision |
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(different) variation |
(eliminate) altogether |
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(empty) hole |
(famous) celebrities |
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(favorable) approval |
(grateful) thanks |
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grow (in size) |
had done (previously) |
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(hot) fire |
I thought (to myself) |
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(immediate) necessities |
(joint) agreement |
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(just) recently |
know (about) |
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last (of all) |
lasting (and permanent) |
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link (together) |
many (in number) |
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(mass) exodus |
(natural) instinct |
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neither (one) |
(old) cliché |
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over (and done with) |
(past) experience |
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penetrate (into) |
prove (conclusively) |
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pursue (after) |
raise (up) |
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(recorded) history |
(safe) haven |
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terms (and conditions) |
(terrible) tragedy |
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(uncommonly) strange |
(unintentional) mistake |
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(unique) individual |
(verbal) discussion |
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(viable) alternative |
watching (and observing) |
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weld (together) |
(young) kitten |
(Dave Dowling is the author of
Writing the Right Word (iUniverse Books, ISBN 0-595-20830-4), a grammar reference on confused word pairs. It consists of more than 600 entries and the meanings of more than 1,500 individual words.
Dave is also a member of STC and president of Write On Course, LLC (www.writeoncourse.com), a company in Owego, New York that offers business and technical writing seminars throughout the U.S. You can contact Dave at:
davedowling@stny.rr.com.)
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