Redundancy

By: Sean Savoie

This column in the New York Community Times will soon address the concerns of people who write business e-mail and memos; therefore, we must first examine redundancy. According to my Webster's dictionary, redundancy is unnecessary repetition. Teachers, and especially language teachers such as myself, repeat things often (and I have probably said this before) because repetition helps people to learn. Business communication is different primarily because concise wording is most effective when doing business.

Concise wording is also essential for writing academic essays such as the essay required on the SAT. Simplicity is elegance. To help students write college application essays, I have them write as much as they want to say and then strip the essay down, taking away word after word until the essay is pure content. Sometimes as much as 70% of an essay can be deleted without losing any meaning. Much of what high school students write is "fluff" to fill the page, and high school students are too often allowed to get away with such poor writing. Sometimes an entire paragraph can be expressed in one short sentence.

One relatively simple way to write more concisely is to reduce redundancies. When one word is put together with another of the same meaning, this is called tautology. Some examples of tautology are "free gift" or "empty space". Another type of redundancy, called pleonasm, occurs when another word, most often an adjective, is unnecessary, such as in the expressions "lift up" or "exit from".

In order to begin practicing the art of reduction, first look at some very common redundancies. First, try to understand why the expression is redundant. Second, determine how the expression should be reduced. There are thousands more, but these are some of my favorites.

Very common redundancies:

absolute beginning

absolutely essential

add an additional

added bonus

ask a question

assemble together

at the present time

at this point in time

bald-headed

basic fundamentals

climb up

close proximity

collaborate together

combine together

complete monopoly

completely filled

difficult dilemma

during the course of

empty space

enter into

end result

exited from

extra bonus

fall down

false pretenses

famous celebrity

fellow classmates/co-workers

few in number

first began

follow after

foreign imports

future plans

gather together

general public

honest truth

I personally

introduced for the first time

know for sure

left behind

main focus

may possibly

might possibly

meet together

mix together

natural instinct

new construction

new record

null and void

off in the distance

one and the same

over and over again

over exaggerate

past experience

past memories

penetrate into

period of time

personal belongings

personal friendship

personal opinion

plan ahead

postpone until later

prior record

proceed ahead

protest against

raise up

random chance

rate of speed

reason why

reflect back

repeat again

safe haven

share together

so therefore

specific details

spring season

still persists

sufficient enough

time period

totally destroy

tuna fish

twelve midnight

unconfirmed rumour

undeniable truth

unexpected surprise

unintentional mistake

unsolved mystery

usual custom

written down