GQ lectures on redundancies

Good morning, class! Are you having an enjoyable summer? GQ is doing her absolute best to stay cool, since Myra insisted on dragging me all the way back to Texas with her.

Wait—what? Myra is over there in her writing chair loudly informing me that it was I who insisted on accompanying her on this cross-country move. Hmmph. As if she had a choice.

Alas, now that we are comfortably settled in our new abode, it is time once again for yours truly to hold forth on yet another important topic of grammar. Today’s lecture is on the subject of redundancy, or needless repetition.

Let’s begin with several frequently used redundant phrases:

Added bonus. How else does one receive a bonus, if not additionally?

Basic fundamentals. By definition a fundamental is basic!

Cooperate together. Hard to cooperate separately, in my opinion.

Difficult dilemma. Have you ever experienced an easy dilemma?

Free gift. Unless, perhaps, the gift has strings attached.

Past experience. Is there any other kind?

Plan ahead. Rather late to plan in arrears, wouldn’t you say?

Unintended mistake. One hopes one does not make mistakes on purpose!

Very unique. Something is either one of a kind, or it is not.

Another source of redundancy among writers involves common body language:

Kent nodded his head. Can you really picture Myra’s handsome hero from The Rancher’s Redemption nodding his shoulder or knee?

Erin shrugged her shoulders. I expect she would find it difficult to shrug a hand or elbow, even if her arm were not tucked tenderly around the handsome Kent!

Repetition sometimes rears its ugly head in the form of repeated words, phrases, or character actions. For example, as I assisted Myra with recent book edits, we discovered her characters frequently huffed to show indignation or flicked their gazes when distracted or flustered. We’ve also encountered an abundance of characters squeezing their eyes shut or propping hips against desks or door frames. Do you have a pet word or phrase? If you’re a writer, you may find it changing from manuscript to manuscript, so be on your guard!

And now, as always, GQ has a quiz for you. Point out the redundancies in the following sentences:

Bryan lives in close proximity to the mountains.

Zoë received no advance warning that her flight would be cancelled.

The end result of Eva’s day at the beach was a painful sunburn.

Benjamen first began learning to play the drums at age ten.

Foreign imports are Joseph’s favorite kind of automobile.

Lois stayed up until 2:00 a.m. in the morning to finish reading the mystery novel.

Absolutely essential to Zenia’s morning routine is a strong cup of coffee.

During the course of planning a wedding, Christine visited several event venues.

Lily’s birthday party had to be postponed until later.

Marie accepts the consensus of opinion that she is a strict parent.

While studying for an exam, Jacob experienced a major breakthrough.

Judy closely scrutinized the daily crossword puzzle before penning her answers.

Myra did quite a bit of advance planning before beginning her next book.

Scroll down to view the answer key and see how well you scored. Care to comment with your own most commonly used redundancies along with any tips you have found for overcoming them?

Post your questions and comments below, or feel free to send them to me personally using this comment form.

You can also follow Grammar Queen on Twitter!