The Truth About Redundancies

People don’t seem to care much about redundancies, but that might be because they don’t know the truth about redundancies.

What truth?

The fact that while you may not care about them, the people who do are silently snickering every time you use one. And while they may not say anything to you about it, they may very well be saying something to others. Worst of all, the one snickering may be your boss.

Instead of wondering if you said or wrote something wrong, learn to use words properly, at least learn the common errors so that you don’t make them. I cover quite a few redundancies in my book Visual Grammar, which includes my first three grammar books and more. There is also a smaller downloadable list on my website, under the “writing resources” menu.

What Is so Bad About Redundancies?

If you’re reading this post, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself that question. So let me tell you the truth about redundancies. Most people misuse words frequently, and it’s only those people who pay attention to how they speak and what they write that tend to get things right. The problem is, that once you learn things the right way, it’s difficult to ignore it when you hear or see words used the wrong way. Trust me. I know. It’s difficult for me to sit through a movie or TV show and not say anything. I don’t, but I’m tempted to. When I hear words misused, I want to turn to my wife and say “He shouldn’t have said that,” or “She didn’t need to say ‘safe haven’.”

A haven is a safe place, so there’s no need to use safe. It’s like saying “Let me take her to a safe safe place.”

And just as there’s no need for “safe haven,” nor is there any need for “tuna fish” or “final result” or “armed gunman.”

The Truth About Redundancies…

…is that once you learn to use the words or phrases properly, you’ll be the one snickering when you see or hear others using them improperly. And redundancies do have to be learned. You need to recognize what a redundancy is and remember it because they are not picked up by spellcheckers or grammar checkers. The good thing is that once you realize what they sound like, your vocabulary will improve as a result, something that’s much more difficult to achieve.

The Bottom Line

Do yourself a favor. Take a few minutes. It may take a few minutes a week, but with practice, you’ll quickly learn which words/phrases not to use. As a result (not end result), you’ll sound better when you speak, and it will be reflected in your writing.

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Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes nonfiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series as well as books about grammar, publishing., and children’s fiction and nonfiction.

When Giacomo isn’t writing, he’s helping his wife take care of the animals on their sanctuary. At last count, they had forty animals—seven dogs, one horse, six cats, and twenty-five pigs.

Oh, and one crazy—and very large—wild boar, who used to take walks with Giacomo every day.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with forty-five loving “friends.”