At the top of Gmail are often links to various things like “word of the day”, “top news stories”, and advertised products. Last night, there was a link to an About guide on supposedly redundant phrases. What’s amusing is that the author (who, by the way, apparently has a Ph.D in English and Rhetoric, according to his bio page) has hilariously no idea what he’s talking about. A good half of the items on his list aren’t even redundant, and much of his advice would, in application, only serve to eliminate specification that would be necessary in context.

So I had some fun discussions with Janet and Watt picking these apart. I’ll go through Mr. Nordquist’s entire list; my comments are in bold, and no comment on a phrase means I agree it’s redundant or can’t necessarily figure out what’s so wrong about it.

A

* (absolutely) essential Some things can be more essential than others. For instance, while food and air are both essential to human survival, I’d say that air is more essential than food. It’s not necessarily simply a qualifiable state.
* (absolutely) necessary See: (absolutely) essential
* (actual) experience I have experience killing people. In Grand Theft Auto, that is. I would consider that imaginary or virtual experience, and not actual.
* (actual) facts There is information that can be presented as fact that is not actually so. See: FOX News.
* (advance) forward So if you want your troops to advance around the sides, or to the northeast, you can’t specify a direction because any advancement is always forward in direction?
* (advance) planning You can plan after the fact, or improvise a plan as events are taking place.
* (advance) preview
* (advance) reservations
* (advance) warning You can be warned about something after it’s happened. Just wouldn’t really be effective, is all.
* add (an additional) If you’re adding a number in addition to other numbers that have already been added (for instance, another ten dollars in addition to the original hundred dollar total), it’s necessary specification. Telling someone “now add ten dollars”, they might think you’re talking about a previous instance of ten dollars that had been calculated into the original total, which you feel you’ve already covered.
* add (up)
* (added) bonus Not all bonuses are added. A bonus can exist that hasn’t been added.
* (affirmative) yes
* (aid and) abet These two words actually do have different meanings. You wouldn’t, for instance, abet someone in finding quality, affordable tires. You can aid someone in addition to helping them do something bad.
* (all-time) record All records are “all-time” records, then? No current records? A, say, sports team that holds the record for scoring over the last five years holds the “all-time” record?
* alternative (choice) Okay, this is kind of a borderline one. I can see cases where the specification (between, say, an alternative banana and an alternative choice) would clarify one’s meaning.
* A.M. (in the morning)
* (and) etc.
* (anonymous) stranger Just because I don’t know someone’s name, that doesn’t mean I can’t be familiar with them. For instance, if I have anonymous sex with the same person twice, they’re no longer really a “stranger” the second time, are they?
* (annual) anniversary I agree, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it.
* (armed) gunman So if you take away his gun, he’s no longer a gunman? And a gunman needs to be armed in order to be a gunman?
* ascend (up)
* ask (the question) Necessary specification. For instance, if you wanted someone to ask a person a particular question, instead of, say, randomly asking about the water retention capabilities of a sock.
* assemble (together)
* attach (together) Everything that is attached is attached together, I guess. You apparently aren’t supposed to specify that you are attaching two things to each other as opposed to attaching these things to something else entirely.
* ATM (machine)
* autobiography (of my life) Every autobiography is of my own life. I can’t specify that it’s “the autobiography of Bob Sagat’s life”. It’s all just “autobiography” with no specification at all.

B through Z below the fold…
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Jabberwock

This is the first of “The Red Pen”, a new category of the site in which I comment on various pieces of terrible writing either found online or submitted to me.

This paper was written by a senior in college, surprising as it will sound after you’ve finished reading. I was unable to retain his paragraph structure without making the entire thing totally unpalatable, so I’ve just marked wherever he decided, apparently at random, to divide the chunks of words.

I didn’t so much pay attention to grammar as I did overall quality of writing. It would’ve taken too much time to go through and correct every little mistake, and would’ve made it too cluttered to have any comedic timing.

My comments are in italics, and are sometimes nested within his sentences.

Anyway, enjoy.

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Jabberwock