Writing & Grammar Workshop: Department of Redundancy Department

"Double your pleasure, double your fun" may be a good thing when it comes to chewing gum, but in writing it may be a distraction–or worse–an error. Expressions such as past history, future prospects, and serious crisis are redundant, but so popular that many readers won't notice them.

Redundancies such as a double negative (don't have no) or the reason why is because are noticeably wrong.

In business or technical writing, stay away from is is and does is, as in "What it is, is larceny." Instead, eliminate the introductory clause and go with "It is larceny." Instead of "What this does is it gives you another option for…" go with "This gives you another option for…."

When explaining reasons for something, go with "The reason is that…" or "You do this because…" to avoid incorrect redundancy.

Hidden redundancies occur with abbreviations: CRT tubes, LCD displays, and PIN number all have a repeated meaning: the T stands for tube, the D for display, and the N for number.

Eliminate redundancies from your writing for enhanced clarity and conciseness. And remember to watch out for redundancy when you are using your PIN number at the ATM machine and you reflect back on your past experience with new innovations.

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Join Jennie online where she'll be teaching Writing Training Documents and eLearning Scripts.

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About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" to her credit. Jennie specializes in electronic editing. At the American Psychological Association, she was manager of electronic publishing and manager of technical editing and journal production. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer (Chauncey Group). She is a publishing professional with 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

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