One way to
cut the clutter in our writing is to eliminate
repetitious expressions. Because we so often see and hear redundancies (such as "free gifts" and "foreign imports"), they can be easy to overlook. Therefore, when
editing our work, we should be on the lookout for needless repetition and be ready to eliminate expressions that add nothing to what's already been said.
Now does this mean that repetition must be avoided at all costs, or that good writers never repeat themselves?
Our concern here is with eliminating
needless repetition — redundant expressions that make writing longer, not better. Following are some of the common redundancies in English. In certain
contexts, some of these phrases may serve a purpose. More often, however, the phrases just weigh down our writing with unnecessary words. We can eliminate the needless repetition in each case by omitting the word or phrase in parentheses.
