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Omit, delete and leave out redundancies that repeat things
Sep 01, 2020
Keep your writing tight by avoiding those superfluous words that so easily creep in
“In this ever-changing world in which we live in …”
– Paul McCartney
Redundancy makes for weak writing. An economy of words is always the goal. Good writers craft tight content that’s to the point. A machine shouldn’t contain needless parts, and our sentences shouldn’t contain needless words. Redundancies add drones to your sentences.
We see it often. Think how many times you’ve read (or written), “Our office is located at …” The word “at” already conveys location, right? Placing “located” before it is superfluous.
Another common redundancy is “free gift.” As in, “Come into our store this Saturday and get a free gift.” Isn’t it nice that I don’t have to reach into my wallet and pay for my gift? As we all know, a gift is free by definition.
Here’s another that shows up regularly: “Our future plans include a new office building.” Who plans for anything but the future? Just say, “Our plans.” This one has a flipside, too: “past history.” We already know that all history is past, so scratch “past.” Give "past experience" the same treatment.
Sometimes “sufficient enough” appears in a sentence. “One application of our anti-acne cream is sufficient enough to keep your skin clear for days.” Drop the word “enough.” It’s sufficient to say “sufficient.”
During the last few months, we’ve all heard “face mask” ad infinitum. (Where else are you wearing one?) Let’s just call it a mask.
The list goes on. We hear about a “hollow tube” (as if there’s any other kind). Ditto with “empty space,” “dead corpse,” “old adage,” “advance notice.”
Please don’t ask “the reason why.” Trim the “why.” Don’t write about getting up at “2 a.m. in the morning.” Avoid saying “join together,” because anytime you join two things, we assume they’re now together.
You get the idea. So, make redundancies history – not “past history,” either.
Was it really necessary for Sir Paul to write “in” more than once? Well, he was probably just trying to fit his lyrics into the meter, so we’ll give him a pass (besides, he’s a former Beatle). Most other times, there’s no such excuse.
Redundancy makes for weak writing. An economy of words is always the goal. Good writers craft tight content that’s to the point. A machine shouldn’t contain needless parts, and our sentences shouldn’t contain needless words. Redundancies add drones to your sentences.
We see it often. Think how many times you’ve read (or written), “Our office is located at …” The word “at” already conveys location, right? Placing “located” before it is superfluous.
Another common redundancy is “free gift.” As in, “Come into our store this Saturday and get a free gift.” Isn’t it nice that I don’t have to reach into my wallet and pay for my gift? As we all know, a gift is free by definition.
Here’s another that shows up regularly: “Our future plans include a new office building.” Who plans for anything but the future? Just say, “Our plans.” This one has a flipside, too: “past history.” We already know that all history is past, so scratch “past.” Give "past experience" the same treatment.
Sometimes “sufficient enough” appears in a sentence. “One application of our anti-acne cream is sufficient enough to keep your skin clear for days.” Drop the word “enough.” It’s sufficient to say “sufficient.”
During the last few months, we’ve all heard “face mask” ad infinitum. (Where else are you wearing one?) Let’s just call it a mask.
The list goes on. We hear about a “hollow tube” (as if there’s any other kind). Ditto with “empty space,” “dead corpse,” “old adage,” “advance notice.”
Please don’t ask “the reason why.” Trim the “why.” Don’t write about getting up at “2 a.m. in the morning.” Avoid saying “join together,” because anytime you join two things, we assume they’re now together.
You get the idea. So, make redundancies history – not “past history,” either.
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