A list of trimmable words—Benjamin Dreyer says these words, shown in italic, are “easily disposed redundancies”— from Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style:
ABM missile
absolutely certain
added bonus
advance planning
advance warning
all-time record
blend together
capitol building
closed fist
close proximity
CNN network
general consensus
continue on
crisis situation
depreciated in value
direct confrontation
disappear from sight
earlier in time
end product
erupt violently
exact same
fall down
few in number
final outcome
follow after
free gift
full gamut
fuse together
future plans
gather together
glance briefly
hollow tube
integrate with each other
join together
kneel down
last of all
lift up
merge together
might possibly
moment in time
mutual cooperation
orbit around
overexaggerate
passing fad
past history
PIN number
preplan
raise up or rise up
reason why
regular routine
shuttle back and forth
sink down
slightly ajar
sudden impulse
surrounded on all sides
swoop down
sworn affadavit
undergraduate student
unexpected surprise
unsolved mystery
unthaw
usual custom
wall mural
Q: What’s the most redundant redundancy you’ve ever encountered?
Dreyer: “He implied without quite saying.”
But what about when words are economized and become nonsensical. FRACTION is used to mean ‘a small fraction,” whereas nine-tenths is also “a fraction.”