Redundant Again

Redundant Again By Elton Camp There’s an expression hard to beat It’s a reference to “hamburger meat” Here’s another that’s too often seen Come and use our “ATM machine” In a storm, folks always “hunker down” But to “hunker up” is not ever found An “advance reservation” is quite wise You can’t do it afterward with many tries There’s no sense to “aid and abet,” Since the same meaning they get Then consider the name “balsa wood” Surely “wood” has to be understood A “brief moment” certainly can’t be long Otherwise, the very expression is wrong Why use the two words “cancel out” When cancel alone shows what’s about Contemplate the words “cash money” Doesn’t it actually sound rather funny In “closed fist” I really have to insist That “closed” is essential if it’s a fist Ingredients you have to “combine together” You can’t combine apart even if you rather “Completely filled” uses two words when it’s true When “filled” alone would be all we need do We “confer together” because there’s no art That will somehow allow us to confer apart We “could possibly” carry out the plan Gives nothing new that we can understand The “current incumbent” is the one in now An “incumbent” has to be current anyhow How could it be that we say “exact same” When identical is what the two words name We ordinarily will speak of a “face mask” Where else could a “mask” go I have to ask So if I trip then I have to “fall down” If I fall up, then gravity isn’t around A plane, we say, will “fly through the air” Could it fly through the water over there? Enter a “PIN number” when using a debit card That “PIN” already says number can’t be too hard A fly is crawling on the “nape of her neck” Where else is a “nape” located by heck? Then there’s the expression “overused cliché” Could a “cliché” possibly be any other way? A “pair of twins” surely does imply there are two Any other number with “twins” just wouldn’t do And now think about the words, “sole of the foot” Where else is it that a “sole” could possibly be put? Another example of redundancy is “tuna fish” “Tuna” can’t be anything else even if we wish In our writing, unneeded words we should eliminate Lest our postings others should actually come to hate