100 Redundant Phrases to Think Twice About

Ever dig into the book with relish? 

One night I did. I had heard good things about it. I could not wait to read it. I adjusted the lights for readings, settled into my recliner, and gave undivided attention. A few pages in, I pitched the book into the recycle bin.  Why? Because it was filled with distractingly redundant writing like this:

And yet, the girl thought to herself contradictorily…

Double dud! First, the girl is thinking to herself. To whom else would she think? We don’t need herself. Second, the girl is thinking contradictorily. How else would and yet cross her mind? We don’t need contradictorily. 

Redundancy presents more than what is needed to achieve the objective (s) of the writing. It is the result of semi-conscious writing. It creeps into everyone’s writing. We do it because we think about our meanings, not our words.  

Redundancy should be avoided because it annoys the reader, undermines ideas, and suggests an amateur quality of writing. Below are some common redundant writing examples for avoiding each of them in your prose. 

Adjective phrases

 

Absolutely certain; absolutely essential; absolutely full; absolutely guaranteed; absolutely needed

Actively involved

All inclusive

Arranged vertically not side by side

Awful bad

Bald-headed

Bare naked

Best ever; first ever

Blue in color; few in number; long in duration; nubby in texture; round in shape; short in height; slow in speed

Boiling hot; freezing cold

Booked soiled

Completely alike; completely filled; completely finished; completely necessary

Crystal clear

Curiously inquisitive

Deeply rooted

Entirely dedicated

Exact same; same identical

Filled to capacity

Hot and spicy

Immortalized forever

Incredible to believe; visible to the eyes; warm to touch

Long term rather than short term

Morally wrong

Most optimal

Mutually beneficial for all involved

Rock solid

Singularly focused

Sufficient enough

Too extreme

Totally sure

Velvety smooth

Whole entire

Noun phrases

Academic scholar

ACT test; ATM machine; automatic ATM machine

KFC chicken

RAM memory

UPC code; VIN number        

Actual fact

Added bonus

Advance notice; advance planning; advance preview; advance warning

Agreed-on standards

Annual anniversary; ten-year anniversary

Anonymous stranger

Armed gunman

Artificial prosthesis

Autobiography of her own life; biography of his life

Baby calf

Backup copy

Bad trouble

Burning fire

Careful scrutiny

Cash money

Colorful palette

Conscious choice

Core essence

End result

Entire planet

Established norms

Free gift

Fruit-tree orchard

Golden opportunity

Great good fortune

Hand gestures

Hushed silence

Income coming in

Inner courage

Innovative new idea

Key stakeholders

Leading authority

Modern citizens of today

New beginning

Old custom; old proverb

Oral conversation

Past tradition

Root cause

Record of errors recorded

500 million different people

Small details, small footnote; small handful

Safe haven

Sneak peek

State of confession

4 Common Proofreading Mistakes Bloggers and Web Writers Make

It is always critical to publish speedy content when blogging and writing for the web.

Most bloggers and web writers abandon proofreading and they work with ‘publish now, fix errors later’ strategy.  

But it is not ideal. If your website/blog is small and you do not get much traffic, you can get away with this approach.

But big brands demand more attention to detail. They cannot afford to have wayward grammar and poor spelling. It ruins the impact of valuable content.  

You can improve the effectiveness and accuracy of your content by understanding why mistakes creep in and why you do not spot them. See if these sound familiar…

Take a break

The main reason for missing errors is familiarity with the content. This familiarity means that when you read your content, you actually see what you want to see rather than what is excitedly on-page. 

The point is to take a complete break from your content and get it out of your mind. That way, when you return to it, you will have a new perspective. Errors will stand out more clearly and confusing transitions will be more apparent.

Here is what you will do to improve the proofreading accuracy:

• Try reformatting your content so that it reads differently.
• Put your essay away for a set period of time. If you are not in a rush to get your content done, tuck it out of view for a solid week or two. If you are tight on time, put it away for as long as you possibly can, even if it’s only for two days.
• Cut and paste the text into a different software program, so that it flows in a new way.
• Or increase/reduce the font so that the lines break in different places.
• Put the scale on every line so that you could easily focus on every line.
• Read word by word. 

You’ll force yourself to read the words differently and reduce your familiarity with them, by doing one of these simple things. You’ll catch more mistakes this way.

Trusting a spell check

How do you write your website content? Do you write straight into your content management system? Or type into another piece of software like OpenOffice Microsoft Word or a more basic text editor?

Some of these programs will have spell checking functionality, they can be useful at spotting misspelled words and wayward grammar. 

But do not trust them completely. Spell checkers usually do not spot words that are spelled correctly but used incorrectly. Here is an example of some copy that the spell checker in Microsoft Word thinks is fine:

"I cut my hand earlier and hand not bought a 1^st aid kid along. To be honest, my memory has not been good over the past few years as it used to be. Do you have 1 that I could burrow?"

It should read:        

     

"I cut my hand earlier and haven’t brought a first aid kit along. To be honest, my memory hasn’t been as good over the past few years as it used to be. Do you have one that I could borrow?"

As you can observe, it is always a good idea to give your copy a read, a re-read and, if you have the time, a re-re-read before you publish it.

 Not reading the content out loud

There are many tips for better proofreading–printing it out, doing multiple read-throughs to search for different types of error, reading the content backward, tapping each word as you check it…

These are all good approaches and you should experiment with them to find which one works for you. But there’s often no substitute for reading your work out loud–or silently saying every word to yourself inside your head.

Why? Because this will help you to get a feeling for the rhythm and pace of the words –

Whether the sentence is too long, sentences all sound alike, need to stop mid-sentence to take a breath, the punctuation is correct, even whether the words are spelled correctly, duplicate missing.

Seek the advice of others 

Writing is collaborative even when you are a solo writer and likewise solely responsible for your writing. It is perfectly acceptable and necessary for good content to involve other people. Why? You may want to brainstorm topic ideas; you may want input about whether your topic is too broad or narrow; you may want feedback on your draft as you polish your writing; you may want reassurance once that writing is completed that it is interesting and engaging. You may want a final check for punctuation and grammar usage.