intentionally looked the other way
Even though figures of speech cannot be trusted.
It had the effect of causing a neighboring tile company to go out of business.
Cause and effect, attorney style.
request to retain additional resources to be used in connection with the final push toward completion of discovery
Zeno's lesser known paradox: if the rhetoric of completion can be infinitely extended, nothing ever happens.
naturally caffeine-free
The same product, a special tea, is also naturally titanium-free, naturally sea-monkey-free, naturally car-door-windshield-control-device-free. It is not, however, free.
closely mirror
Reflecting really hard.
She has had long history of a giving way sensation in the right knee for the last several years.
Not to mention the effect on her concept of time.
At no time prior to the issuance of the denial letter . . . did . . . anyone . . . statementize individuals from [party].
Can this be taken seriously?
The pain level affected concentration and his inability to work.
When it keeps you from slacking, that's when it's really bad.
He is not sure that they have good "peripheral vision" needed to foresee the future of this case and to make sure it is being handled properly so that we are in control of the case rather than vice versa.
His uncertainty can be measured in layers of redundancy.
pre-authorization
Cf. "condition precedent."
any and/or all
Mere pleonasm will not do. This is the age of superpleonasm.
Whether those fibers are championship caliber remains to be seen.
Sports writer ready to mix it up with metaphor.
from a fading whisper to a full-volume scream
And leave none unpumped up.
created the likelihood of inadvertent errors
Seized in the trap of rhetorical plumbing.
Defendant’s response is entirely non-responsive.
Now that you mention it, I suppose every response doesn't respond entirely.
She did not belong to any clubs or organizations that she was active in.
Passive member.
Urgency is important.
Baseball team's new hire for manager shows grasp of tautology.
and move it forward expeditiously from this point on
In time or space, you know, one of those.
As to the question where appellants make perhaps a colorable argument, they are indisputably wrong, and by a wide margin.
Referring to the thickness of the line between right and wrong -- or at least between wrong you can argue and wrong you can't.
wrongfully misappropriated
But made much of.
Just as a lawyer must satisfy certain educational and test requirements to become a lawyer and to have that status . . .
And never let up.
The dirt that the witness dumped . . . always appeared to be clean dirt without foreign contaminants.
Mincing with dirt.
Non-accessible exit
No no exit. Sign in a bank.
In an interview with deputies, Whittington "collaborated Vice President Cheney's statement," according to the release, which concluded, "This was no more than a hunting accident."
He was a smashing bloke. He used to buy his mother flowers and that. He was like a brother to me.
My biggest fear, if there was one . . .
College football coach ain't sayin' there were fears nor their relative size.
It was fun to see the potential of what we can do kind of come to fruition with what we did offensively.
College football coach can't just do it.
Responsiveness is a hallmark of our client service focus.
Wonkity wonk.
meet and confer conferences
Alert: our pleonasms are hemorrhaging.
The essential substantive provisions . . .
However, once again, the analogy is not merely imperfect, but dangerously so.
The second concern is that unless courts are prepared to countenance multiple treble damage awards, there will be enormous problems of apportionment, leading to under-deterrence.
Excellence in puffballery. This is an unsurpassed exceeding not to be outdone, as the globular strokes of conundrumnal fury below further demonstrate:
substantial demise
relatively painless
largely unavoidable
in the face of facially awkward circumstances
essentially pretextual
largely contentless
A veritable Dionysian orgy of a Promethean display of oxymoronic pleonasm.
For the last seven months it has been a nonstop, science-packed mission. It has been a whirlwind, and already we have many new results.
Scienceapoppin'.
It may be only a matter of time before al Qaeda or other groups attempt to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. We must focus on that.
Who knows when it will become a matter of time? Stay alarmed.
Astronomically speaking, this explosion happened in our backyard. If it were in our living room, we'd be in big trouble.
Astronomically speaking (or the latest edition of scientist and their bloody childish reading habits).
substantial efficiency-enhancing potential
Sounds efficienter already. [Pb.]
flesh out each of the specific details that are the key to U.S. tax planning
Fleshy.
Unveiling Titan is like reading a mystery novel. Each time you flip the page you learn something new, but you don't know the whole story until you've read the whole book.
Scientist fiction. (Cf. Mark E. Smith: "Scientists and their bloody childish reading habits.")
Upon final completion of the . . . project . . .
Does it ever happen?
The document speaks for itself.
You don't say.
In determining the manufacturer of Products, Manufacturer shall consider the manufacturers it considers best suited globally to manufacture such products . . .
Circle jerk.
A replacement of a flexible substance-over-form doctrine by a mechanical deemed rule may proffer planning opportunities, some of which are intentionally opened by the transplantation of the deemed rules to other situations.
It's not that lawyers aren't misunderstood, it's that they overestimate the value of that being misunderstood.
The first of these initiatives is called Refining Our Strategy, which refers to an initiative to clarify our vision of the firm we want to build for the future and to identify the best path to achieve that vision. The outgrowth of this initiative will be a refined strategic architecture that builds on our current strategy. In addition to this strategy refinement effort, we have embarked on a group of related initiatives we call Reinforcing the Fundamentals, which will serve as an important foundation for our strategy.
Strategy refined up own asshole.
The new technology . . . will help us leverage the value of our collective relationships.
The professional way of saying forklift each other's asses.
I think the president is being clear. I would like to see him more clear.
Clearing up clear was a distinctly unified member of the same party.
There are few times in your life when you get to write the final chapter the way you want to.
You don't say. Unless, of course, you write. But we don't know whether this famous U.S. athlete, who said this at the 2004 Olympics, has tried to publish any of these roman noir gems.
I think there's a sea change at these Games. We're using Athens as kind of a launch for this sea change.
Sea change is nothing to the Greeks. They once had a thousands seas launched. (Anti-doping comment during 2004 Olympics.)
On its face, AOL appeared to be highly viable with tremendous upside.
Some fat-ass lookin' investment. From a court document, i.e., written by attorneys. And from the same:
AOL was one of the centerpieces of the technology bubble.
In the stock market, love is a many-centered bubble.
The wealth of positive collateral that he has built with me personally and with this organization, that's a deep well.
If you may draw from it, yourself. Team owner responds to former player's comments.
It throws a lot of judgment on our behalf.
In case you're wondering why college football officials get confused, this is what they have to contend with from their coordinators.
We're going to have to do more with less. Based on this reality, it's essential that the City have transparency as it relates to where dollars are spent and how dollars are spent.
He honks! He wonks! This gabbin' nuisance, political poster boy of a big city, shows he's electable.
the system does not violate antitrust violations
This violation thing sure is hard to keep straight. (This is from a college football conference commissioner speaking about the Bowl Coalition Series.)
astronauts scrubbed for medical problems
At least they weren't aborted! This was a caption on a TV news program. [From G.T.W. of Mission Control, with a nod to Daggers.]
automatically free when you . . .
. . . use an ATM machine with your PIN number. From a bank's radio commercial.
Half was in English, half was in Spanish, and the other half was bad language.
Good thing he wasn't speaking in math. A baseball trainer spoke of player's reaction to being hit by the ball. [From the dugout of G.T.W.]
He is by far a unanimous preseason first-team All-American.
He was so many more than one short.
the full as yet unexhausted amount
Still brimming with unemptiness.
Sweden's goalkeeper Magnus Hedman looks as the ball goles into the goalmouse in the extra time against Senegal during their 2002 World Cup second-round playoff match Sunday, June 16, in Oita, Japan.
From this account, it's not certain that Magnus saw that, whatever it was. This is just plain error and imprecision, but spectacular at that.
VBA is a high-level language and, like all high-level languages, it is, by its very nature, a large yet rich language.
From a guide book on Visual Basic for Applications. The program language is slightly more productive.
for violating antitrust violations
News reporter explaining suit brought against Microsoft, which apparently failed on some occasion to act as a monopoly. (From anti-trust buster G.T.W.)
Whether the rumors are true or not, I won't speculate. But I always say, "Where there's smoke, there's fire."
Basketball coach speak with forked tongue, or maybe just tongue tied in knot. [From Securities Exchange Commissioner, G.T.W.]
making audible sounds
audibly speaking, you could hear
Newsspeak meaning well in the sound vicinity. [From the auditory nerve of G.T.W.]
more flawless
More priceless. From an Olympics reporter about one ice skating pair compared to another. Perhaps a platinum medal is in order. [From G.T. "Better than Gold" W.]
We don't know exactly what their affiliation is together other than they are cohabiting and producing children.
The police are as promiscuous with their language as some people are with reproduction, although "cohabiting" may be police-speak for doing drugs together.
This lawsuit is about the future and how that future will play out.
An "analyst" speaking about AOL's lawsuit against Microsoft. We predict the future holds lots more pleonasm.
irrebuttable
Attorneys like to use words that other people, well, haven't heard before. This is a professional privilege in order to sound more professionally privileged.
opened a whole bunch of worms
A local TV sports anchor speaking about a controversial referee's decision in a football game. [From G.T.W., who also adds that if the worms had been in a can perhaps they would not have been gutted.]
We expected a close game and a tight game as well, and we have it.
Just because the score is close doesn't mean the teams haven't been drinking. [From the press box of G.T.W.]
Indeed, the first shock you'll get is hearing pansori performer Cho Sang Hyun howling and barking to a drum beat and seeing a tiny figure in the bottom of the screen go on for a couple of minutes before we get the first visual imagery.
You have to see it with your eyes. Thank god we have the internet so that anyone can write.
suspended for breaching a violation
Under the NCAA's mandatory violation policy.
as close as they are proximity-wise
Is that close or what? These two are from a college football broadcast [the former reported by G.T.W.].
i [sic] want to meet someone who can satisfy my thirst for intellectual hunger, and whet my thirst for human touch.
This complex appetite is from a personal ad. Or is that an appetite complex?
with members of the diplomatic corps shivering in his rear
This gem is from a new biographer of Theodore Roosevelt on a talk show, about Teddy's predilection for -- no, not that, despite the writer's attempt to create drama -- skinny-dipping in the ice cold waters of a park near the White House. [Rear guard G.T.W.]
It is instructive to catch the emotions on the fly.
And while you're at it, why not sneeze? This bright bit of spontaneity training is from, as a biography on a web site puts it, "one of the most widely syndicated and intensively read of all columnists" (a nice bit of herring, there, in its own right), the famous founder of a conservative national magazine. Erudition never sounded so simple. [G.T.W. on guard.]
It's unbelievable how much I believe in you guys.
College football coach exhorts his team with paradox.
Everyone has it. You should, too.
Apparently I already bought it without even realizing. [TV commercial for video and DVD of movie; G.T.W.]
She was once a former nurse
Once a former nurse, always a former nurse. [Local TV anchor as reported by G.T.W.]
The president will continue to reach out to leaders throughout the world to develop this coalition, to send a message that the United States and the world stand united, all the freedom-loving countries and others, to fight terrorism.
According to this certain White House spokesman, you don't have to love freedom to be in our gang.
Indonesia has the highest populace of any nation in the world.
Dude. We're there. [From an NBC anchor as reported by G.T.W.]
. . . when the choppers sent to extract them became literal sitting ducks.
Either the seasoned journalists of "60 Minutes" also get eager with their qualification, or the U.S. has made advances in transformer technology. [From G.T.W.]
Primarily, that is my concern first.
First things first. [From G.T.W.]
[She] epitomizes what the definition of being a "real woman" is all about.
How do I tautologize thee? Let me count the ways.
[A]ll of which means the drawing board the . . . staff will go back to will be covered with top priorities . . . .
Mix metaphor with one part pleonasm, one part oxymoron, shake well.
But I can also look them in the eye and look you in the eye and look myself in the eye and know that we did not do anything wrong.
Another supernatural college football coach, this one adding a special talent even to omniscience.
. . . to free the man they call "the Jewish Dreyfus."
From an article in a newspaper and posted on the web referring to a man accused of spying for Israel and imprisoned by the U.S. Whether other people have actually used this expression, or the particular writer inadvertently coined it, it's not clear just how one can have exponential identity.
Preventing terrorism may seem like the only priority this week but it's not likely to maintain such total paramountcy for long . . . .
Whatever "paramountcy" is, it sounds hard to keep up.
. . . to guarantee themselves an automatic place in next year's finals in South Korea and Japan.
A tautology now used frequently in soccer reporting. Apparently now even the automatic can be reneged.
We have to force some luck into the season now because we don't control our own destiny anymore.
From a college football head coach and metaphysical manipulator.
Time is specifically declared to be the essence of this Agreement and of the acts required to be done by the parties hereunder.
Contracts need metaphysical precision.
The process just extended itself out.
The latest in active passivity. Business managementfolk can take this lesson from an INS official, referring to -- or deferring -- the practice of putting Chinese aliens in prison, sometimes for years.
almost better than perfect
Wise to hedge on superlatives. This could be The Crimson Herring official slogan. Said by the coach of a certain national soccer team about an upcoming match with a big rival national team. We leave it to you to figure out the angles and offshoots. And cf.:
My first season here was 150 per cent perfect.
No almost about it, here. We're not sure if this is 150% of 100% or 110%, but it's quite certain that perfection, like everything else, is inflationary. This is from a world-famous goalkeeper about his world-famous soccer club.
Demand side efficiencies include increased scope for the network externalities among cardholders and merchants discussed above as well as merchant side economies of scale and scope.
Wonk wonk wonk wonk.
percipient witness
As opposed to a senseless witness.
A revocable proxy is revoked by a writing delivered to the Secretary of the corporation stating that the proxy is revoked or by a subsequent proxy executed and delivered to the Secretary by, or by attendance at the meeting and voting in person by, the person executing the proxy.
Got that?
maintain relevance for the evolving strategic environment
Military speak, apparently meaning either to blend in with the surroundings or keep up with fashion, though it's not known how black berets accomplish either.
Engineered for high performance, maximum uptime, serviceability, and ease of management.
Harnessing the power of emerging technology for top performance, serious multitasking & high productivity.
[The company] is your single point of accountability for an outstanding end-to-end service experience while helping you achieve a low total cost of ownership.
From the web site of one of the leading makers of PCs. You know they're pitching to the private-box crowd when the business wonks take over the ad copy. Can't you just see them waiting with that harness as the technology emerges? Bet you also feel a little self-conscious that your multitasking might be too frivolous.
You have to listen to Anderson with a blind eye.
This is a TV news reporter's version of an attorney's statement about a convicted child molester's statements, so we're not sure who gets the credit. [From earwitness G.T.W.]
The Goal: A seamless firmwide web of instantaneous communication distributing work evenly amongst our associates firmwide . . .
The hard part is getting that seamless web over the firm wide bottom.
That's the kind of play winning-type players make.
Said by the kind of manager of a major league-type baseball team who's a winning-type manager when his winning-type players make that kind of play in games they win.
IDIOMS AND CLICHES
Avoid figurative, colorful expressions with readers of other cultures who may interpret a phrase like "barking up the wrong tree" as an insult. When a writer uses "I want to touch base with you," the proofreader may suggest changing or adding a word to the cliche. This will keep it familiar to the reader, yet fresh in the reader's memory: "I want to touch five bases with you," for example, tells the reader that the writer has five points to make.
From a book that alleges to give advice on how to proofread and edit to avoid embarrassing mistakes. Perhaps the author is offering a form of homeopathy, or what, to be fresh and polite, we like to call five hairs of the dog. [From J.G., who also points out that there are only four bases in the game of baseball.]
He's looking forward to getting this behind him.
Attorney, talking about rap star's gun possession rap, shows off his own knack for phrasing. [Another gem uncovered by G.T.W.]
[T]emporary, non-chronic impairments of short duration . . . are usually not disabilities.
They are redundancies.
[T]he masculine gender as used herein shall embrace . . . the feminine . . ., as the circumstances may make appropriate.
That language knows how to operate.
The votes are in! Christian Bale's American Psycho was the overwhelming winner in the "Most Overlooked Performance" category in our 2000 Wrap-up Movie Poll.
We think his underestimation is overrated.
The Court then attempted to exercise power over Swiss banks that held Marcos assets in Switzerland.
That's where they've been hiding those Swiss bank accounts!
Buyer is to return to Seller all documents, materials and information delivered or made available by Seller and copies thereof.
So don't go getting any ideas that copies aren't information.
richly dynamic
It ain't poor as dynamic goes.
A torrential downpour of cascading showering pleasure.
It's about falling water.
The importance of avoiding any conduct that carries a risk of violating criminal laws should be self-evident.
Verbiage notwithstanding.
You have reached this page in error.
The internet version of "You can't get there from here."
based on sweeping across-the-board estimates
cross-elasticities of demand
First rule of business: know how to stretch your metaphor.
Clothing with innappropriate words, phrases or graphics is not permitted.
This establishment reserves the right to refuse spelling to anyone.
and even the potential impact of these bodies' as yet unmade future decisions
Interest in which is compound.
The concurrent occurrence of the closing of the Related Concurrent Transactions.
A pack of curs.
Our billing statements to you will be rendered periodically, ordinarily on a monthly basis, and are due and payable upon receipt.
The rate is per word.
wholly incomplete
Wait. No, wait.
Aston Villa manager John Gregory was quoted on Friday as branding [Chelsea] "fake pretenders with fake illusions."
A back-handed insult? Can you fake a pretension? Is a fake illusion possible?
If any benefit pursuant to the Severance Plan is increased, employee shall have the benefit of such increased benefit.
Give the gift of giving.
Discovery disputes, motions to enlarge time or relief or other procedural matters concerning this plan shall be resolved by motion . . .
Appeals shall be made to the U.S. Court of Infinite Regress.
This joint enterprise is not subject to per se scrutiny because it is a necessary element in the creation of efficiency creating integration.
When the Court talks this way, who can per se argue?
proper compliance
Perhaps to distinguish from complying while unkempt?
In 1912 the maiden voyage of what famous vessel set sail with over 12,000 bottles of Bass ale on board?
A quiz question from a Bass ale coaster. It must be a trick question, as maiden voyages had steam engines by 1912.
"The firm's application and enforcement of the policy will be characterized by a "zero tolerance" approach.
Apparently from some distance.
With Alan Shearer known to have played his final game for England, Keown's words indicate that he has admitted that his international days have come to an end.
This reporter nows how to take the word and run with it.
The Contract Managers shall liaise with regard to the operation of this Section.
In case you wondered what liaisons do.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, [party] may not provide co-located services from any location other than the co-located location . . .
Well, yeah, that goes without saying.
Roasted tender baby succulent suckling pig
An item on a menu. Just saying it makes you feel like you're chewing fat.
I think always in hindsight we might look at use of the English language in a crisper fashion, and I think here's one of those circumstances where I might have changed the wording now in hindsight. But I think the nature -- does the word, "general," have any significance? No. I could just has easily have said 'specific nature' or just 'nature' of the program. I don't think there was any malice aforethought with respect to the adjective "general."
A little reflection helps clear things up.
In sum, the notion . . . is invented from thin air, no air and unreliable second-hand air.
Kettle logic becomes kettle rhetoric.
"there's more than one way to do it" (TMTOWTDI, sometimes said "tim toady")
This is what's known outside the clique of trendy computer people as a specious hyperactive identification technique, or SHIT.
But while a chain of custody is a rigorous exercise requiring Swiss-like perception, what the government offered was a chain with links of something else for which the Swiss are known: cheese full of holes.
Provokes an exclamation of something else that is holy.
He epitomizes everything [the] coach [] stands for.
I can hear the coach saying to this player: "You do the epitomizing, let me do the standing."
provides a physical presence
Said of a basketball player. Balances your game when you have players who provide abstract notions.
In his final talk to his team [Virginia Tech.], Coach Beamer brought up two words -- controlled recklessness. He wanted the Hokies to think about those words . . .
Apparently, his team did think about those words, and were so confounded by the oxymoron they lost to Florida State 46-29 in the so-called national championship game.
[Edgerrin] James [of the Indianapolis Colts], meanwhile, had another breakout game.
How many times does a guy gotta break out till he's broke, already?
The main concern is Roger Clemens, the five-time Cy Young Award winner who endured a public flogging Saturday at Fenway Park.
Those of us who did not see this game of the American League Championship Series are stunned by this heinous act and outraged to learn of Boston's medieval legal code, which would be cruel and barbaric punishment for anything, let alone a disappointing performance in a sporting event.
While basking in the glow of cheers . . .
[They] littered the [team] with a plethora of former [players of another team].
It looks like internet sports writing came ready to play.
an increase in the principal amount of the Senior Loan above the committed and outstanding principal amount thereof
An example of the Dopplegänger effect in the legal world.
Its attempt to cubbyhole its conduct . . .
An example of highly specialized legal language of an extremely sophisticated kind and nature.
He's not afraid to back down and he won't back down.
We like to withhold names for truly embarrassing comments, because we don't like to be ad hominem. But sometimes you discover a fountain and you want to lead others to it. Let's just say that there is a certain former NFL quarterback who is now a commentator on a famous prime-time weekly sports broadcast and whose verbal contortions are, well, athaletic.
As Phil De Glanville said, each game is unique, and this one is no different than any other.
We suspect someone knew what he was up to in this statement worthy of Xeno or Derrida. But we can't be sure who's in on the joke, since it's not clear how much the BBC1 comentator is attributing to De Glanville.
We're repeating the same pattern we've repeated so many times.
You don't say. (A college football coach committed this utterance.)
This is a team that likes to come back from behind.
This was submitted by G.T.W., who also offers this comment: "As for me, I love to come back from just about anywhere." We know that picking on the sports media is like shooting lame ducks in a barrel, but, hey, what can we say? We're talking bottom line: You gotta love it.
He got hit in the facial area.
This is from a famous national sports broadcaster. We're checking sources to determine if this is a part of the anatomy or if there is a zone of the football field so designated. [From the instant recall of G.T.W.]
You may want to consult a lawyer for an individual assessment of the particulars . . ."
Because razor-sharp legal minds know that specificity isn't specific enough.
. . . with the expectation that you would reach a final agreement of your mutual making . . .
That's a good thing, because we all hate those agreements that aren't mutual and aren't made.
I will be arranging time to meet with each of you individually in order to meet you . . .
Memo from the Managing Department Manager of the Department of Management Department.
Your article, and [what] it attempts to defend, bring to mind a large gorilla holding a sledge hammer in his or her hands and eyeing a complex piece of machinery with thousands of interdependent parts, and which has been working with an incredible level of efficency for the past 25 or so years. The potential for the gorilla to cause serious mischief is far greater than the remote chance that the gorilla's intervention will have a beneficial impact.
The Crimson Herring is speechless with awe. We offer to produce affidavits that we did not make this up.
In short, [party] continues to grasp at straw, yet its desperate lunges fall flat.
We shouldn't hasten to blame this on mere mixing of metaphor, incorrect ones even at that, since this writer obviously has some developmental problem with the concept of straw. The writer seems to follow up most writingly on the straw pile of a metaphor:
This is quite a reach, and it begets naught but straw.
The confusion -- does one fail to get straw, or does one get only straw -- betrays what the so writerly-like writing cannot disguise: a bizarre fixation which is straw, man.
States that the process for preparing detailed response to letter was occurring and would be sent in the near future.
The passive voice, attaining the complexity of plumbing, can not only remove the action from any human subject and make a subject and verb redundant, it can also offer new subjects for verbs. Do you send a "process" by FedEx or U.P.S., or do you just fax it?
he'll essentially seal his future fate
But his past could be wide open!
plagued with nagging injuries
From that stable of old war horses, the sports media.
Again and again, like a leitmotif . . .
That must be like a simile. This was taken from a program for a play. Of course, writing about art is not supposed to be art, no matter how artful.
struck a resonant chord
Museum writing is no less concerned that we get the idea. It's not one of your static sounds, you understand.
self-surrender himself
Police talk. No time for the imprecision of civilian plain speaking. Must make things at least doubly clear. Cf. "visual sighting," "9 a.m. in the morning," and the like. [From the smokey detector of G.T.W.]
He self-motivates himself.
From a baseball manager discussing a player's rehabilitation. We offer this entry also for the astonishing similarity with the previous. Linguists and anthropologists will want to note this as possible evidence to common or parallel development of jocks and cops. [From the radar of G.T.W.]
in the immediately preceding sentence
Just so you'll know not to go looking at every preceding sentence wondering which one is referred to.
She'll bring fresh legs to the table.
This was from TV coverage of the women's World Cup final between the U.S. and China. But I couldn't tell you whether the figure is from obscure card games, gastronomy or carpentry. [From the rabbit ears of G.T.W.]
one of the critical kingpins
From a newspaper feature about one of the members of the same U.S. women's soccer team. I don't know how many kingpins there are on a soccer team, and how many of those are critical. Perhaps she was moved over from the linchpin position.
Bêtes Noires, Genus
These are expressions at large, as if they needed to be held up. You'd have to keep the exclusive company of goats not to hear them.
functionality
The methodology of the '90s. This superproduced nouniage is so apparently impressive to the consuming public that every ad, promotional writing and manual for computers, and even the introductory text on the computer, must include it. Business hacks and the techno-clique: a potent combination.
efficiencies
In the minds of capitalists, abstracts or collectives come in individually wrapped pieces. In this case, the word demonstrates the opposite of what it's referring to. (Cf. "technologies.")
[one of many] key issues
How many issues can you have before they're not key? Cf. "primary focus" and the like.
on a(n) __________ basis
This buzz expression has almost no practical use, but it's particularly dopey when it replaces a single word that suffices, such as "regularly" or "monthly." Evokes beating with a stick.
intranet
Specious back formation at its smarmiest. As if "internet" weren't redundant enough. Wouldn't this make the "internet" the "interintranet"? And that would make the "intranet" the "intrainterintranet." Just look at the infinite opportunity for extra syllables!
condition precedent (or subsequent)
For such idiotic pleonasm they offer the justification "term of art." Yes, and arrogance and stupidity are occupational hazards.
including, without limitation
We are seeking an explanation from an attorney of what the law will allow us to do if someone says "including" without this absurd qualification. Or perhaps citation of legal precedent.
dated as of
This seemingly innocuous pomposity is actually an ambiguity, an air of precision that produces confusion. To date something is to date it, regardless of which day you put the date on it. So this is suggesting that the date is different from the day dated, but which is it referring to? A shrewd bit of forked tongue, or are attorneys and businessfolk inattentive? How this really came about is as a bleed from "effective as of," which makes sense precisely in distinction to when something is dated, although even in that case "as of" is unnecessary.
impact
As a verb form, this hyperbolic way to say "affect" is so widespread that it no longer has an impact. It passes most people right by, without them thinking of painful molars or collision. From it has come "impactful," which, born from a deficiency of phrasing, is sadly contrary to its name.
meet and confer
This is to specify that you both meet ("Peter, meet Dick, Dick, Peter") and confer, to avoid the terrible confusion that would be caused by using only one of the two words.
incent/incentivize
Used as a verb. This apparent back formation actually refers to a specific ritual, the corporate equivalent of a war dance, in which executives gather around a conference table, light incense, and get each other all worked up.
Substantially new! The Elongquacious Table
When Demaratus was asked whether he held his tongue because he was a fool or for want of words, he replied, "A fool cannot hold his tongue."-- Plutarch, Laconic Apophthegms
Why say something three ways when you can say it seven? Why settle for unmixed metaphor? Why should English be tied to Aristotelian logic when romance languages are free to compound? French is so much more more. Let us break the Victorian shackles of grammar and put some Hollywood and fruit punch and anti-freeze color into our verbiage. Let's make our intercourse sexy.
With snoots aloft, we heed the information byways and here post the exemplars of this gimcrack Weltanschauung which pervades the free market of expression. This page is dedicated to pleonasm and hyperbole, to marvels of poshification and puffery, to coinages of petty grandeur such as it is the vanity of our modernity to hold unprecedented in quantity and quality. These putridsweet morcels of jargon are culled from actual sources, that is to say, from other contexts in which they were used most superciliously, and not made up by a staff of splenetic caricaturists. Certainly television and newspapers, films and magazines provide a veritable plethoric cornucopia for redundancies and malaprops, but we also seek the more mundanely tropic and platitudinous grist from the mills of industry, from everyday business writing, and from the gross aspirations of ordinary colloquy. There's also the trifling matter of a thing called the "internet," which has provided some of our most sycophantic signifiers, but we will endeavor not to make of this an exclusive resource for citation.
You are also invited, dear reader, to participate actively in this repute. If you come across examples elsewhere that make you want to regurgitate, please do. Make your submissions to:
The first entry in this register of infamy is the very name of it. "The crimson herring" was taken from the transcript of a trial, where a corporate attorney obviously felt that a mere red herring was unbecoming to the status of him or his client. Clearly the smell of his taste rubbed off on his metaphor.
I am afraid we are not rid of God because we still have faith in grammar.-- Nietzsche
Credit Where Due
Not everyone is blind to the invasion of the pleonasm pods. Here's a remarkable case of self-awareness by the sports media, taking up the good cause of The Crimson Herring on its own. This is from the column "On the Air," by Steve Kroner, in the San Francisco Chronicle of Saturday, July 3, 1999. While we are acknowledging someone else's perspicacity, it also provides us more sterling examples of overwaxing. We note also that, as Sigmund Freud suggested, just because we are aware of the problem does not mean we are immune to it.
Redundancies Redux: Two more redundancies we often hear -- and, to be fair, often see in print as well: 1. -- "Perfect" phrasing. For example, last Sunday you might have heard a broadcaster say, "The Reds completed a perfect 7-0 road trip." If it's 7-0, we can pretty well figure it's perfect. Has any team ever completed an imperfect 7-0 road trip?2. -- The second redundancy is so pervasive it takes a moment to realize it is a redundancy. How many times have you heard an announcer say, "He takes a called strike?" Well, if the hitter took the pitch, doesn't a strike have to be called?
Illustrious Illustration
Immanuel Kant provides an example, along with further lightening and enlightenment.
PERPETUAL PEACEWhether this satirical inscription on a Dutch innkeeper's sign upon which a burial ground was painted had for its object mankind in general, or the rulers of states in particular, who are insatiable of war, or merely the philosophers who dream this sweet dream, it is not for us to decide . . .1. "No Treaty of Peace Shall Be Held Valid in Which There Is Tacitly Reserved Matter for a Future War"Otherwise a treaty would be only a truce, a suspension of hostilities but not peace, which means the end of all hostilities -- so much so that even to attach the word "perpetual" to it is a dubious pleonasm.For the full text of Kant's essay, go to http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/kant/kant1.htm