A typically hysterical interview with comedian Michael McIntyre on The Jonathan Ross Show prompted me to write this week about tautology – the use of utterly superfluous words. Michael was highlighting, in his own inimitable style, how Americans feel the need to simplify perfectly adequate English words to the extreme. (Watch the clip here!)
To make his point Michael cited examples including sidewalk (pavement), trash can (bin) and his personal favourite, horseback riding (horse-riding). It was extremely funny but he makes a serious point: many of us (and I include myself here) use unnecessary words in everyday life without thinking. Consider these common culprits:
- Free gift (surely if it’s not free, it’s not a gift)
- File away
- Added bonus
- Grateful thanks
- Raze to the ground (that’s exactly what ‘raze’ – on its own – means)
- Refer or revert back
- Set a new world record
- Rise up
- Unexpected surprise (if it wasn’t unexpected, it wouldn’t be a surprise)
And these are just a few examples that spring to mind.
The use of redundant words even has a name – ‘pleonasm’. I differ from grammar purists in occasionally breaking my own rule for added emphasis (see what I did there) but do it too often or without thinking and it can make your writing woolly.
If you’d like help sharpening up your company’s written communications, just contact me for a quote.
