From the Department of Redundancy Department:
A meteorologist on the local all-news cable station has a habit that truly annoys me. He frequently indicates features that are passing through by saying things like, “That line of showers will be moving on off to the southeast at ten miles per hour.” It’s the “on off” that tugs at my ear every time.
Almost any other option would sound better to me:
- That line of showers will be moving on to the southeast…
- That line of showers will be moving off to the southeast…
- That line of showers will be moving to the southeast…
Wouldn’t any of those be the same difference? [Sorry, I don't like it when people say "same difference" either....]
Yeah, I know, if this is my biggest problem I am truly blessed. Well, of course it’s not my biggest problem. It’s just the small, petty problem I chose to write about today.
Technorati tags: Extra Unnecessary Superfluous Words~blog~personal~otoh~sydca
4 Responses to “Extra Unnecessary Superfluous Words”
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Let's do Something Cheap and Superficial 
kind of like me hating the word “irregardless”!! AHHHHH!!
i can appreciate your annoyance. I figure if a person is hired for their ability to speak they should speak properly. call me crazy. one of the ones that grates me most is when waiters/waitresses/salespeople/etc say ‘yous guys’ it’s a northeast thing that just drives me bonkers.
Or when administrators get on the announcements and say “The basketball team did so good.”
Or when people use the word “basically” as a comma (I have one friend who will use it up to eighty times in a conversation, at which point I hang up).
Or pretty much anything. Language snob over here, except when I annoy you with my problem-solving.
Write an email to the station. Insist that you will switch to another local station until he learns to speak.
If you are as influential as I think you are in your community, I am sure that he will come around.