Say "cheese"

From Mr. Redundancy: "a built-in camera for taking pictures."

From a Mr. Wordy article

"Some people may discover when they forget their combination that they cannot find where they stored the information sheet that came with the lock that had the combination on it."

That was painful, wasn't it.

A First in My 27 Years of Editing

As I approach the end of my first proofing pass through a horribly written book, I am struck by what a struggle it must have been for this poor schnook of an author to complete the book.

He reached down deep and employed redundancy and wordiness almost at will to reach the finish line.

And I almost wish I had been there to cheer him on. Almost.

After all these years, could I be mellowing? I hope not—too much empathy will destroy the gatekeeper.

How to Meet Contractual Obligations

By hook or by crook—or more specifically, by redundancy—the author of the book I'm currently proofing has met the word-count requirement.

All 143 pages are peppered with this sort of writing:

". . . no longer a capability of that office anymore." And, "Yet the diplomatic corps is also greatly at fault as well.

This brings to mind the phrase, "the letter, if not the spirit."

Factoid

I was just listening to an interview on NPR during which the guest repeatedly said, "In point of fact."

Let me state for the record that, in actual fact, that expression quickly grew old.

As a matter of fact, I turned off the radio.

In fact, excessive verbiage, be it written or verbal, always should be avoided.

Sometimes one too is one too many.

I see this construction more than I'd like to:

Not only will you feel better, you'll also be helping others too.

also + too = adrenaline rush

Breathe in, breathe out . . .

Redundant and repetitive

From Amazon.com's review of the new Spinal Tap CD/DVD:

"Back From The Dead" is destined to be a collector's item, especially among collectors.