Original Source
“No words are too good for the cutting-room floor, no idea so fine that it cannot be phrased more succinctly.” ― Merilyn Simonds
- Examples:
| Redundant | Concise |
|---|---|
| adequate enough | both words mean more or less the same thing |
| Close proximity | Both the words mean the same thing. Use one or the other |
| Collaborate together | Just say, ‘Let’s collaborate’ |
| Completely surrounded | either you’re surrounded or you’re not. ‘Completely’ is redundant. |
| Few in number | just say ‘few’, it means exactly the same thing and uses two fewer words. |
| Foreign imports | As opposed to what? Local imports? If it is imported, it has to be foreign. You don’t have to say ‘foreign’. |
| Free gift | If you pay for something, it is not a gift. All gifts are free, except the ones advertised as ‘free gifts’ in ads. There’s always a catch there. Drop ‘free’. |
| Absolutely certain | You can either be certain or uncertain about something. You cannot be partly certain. Saying ‘absolutely certain’ is like saying ‘certainly certain’. Don’t. |
| General public | ‘The public’ refers to the general population. You don’t need to say ‘general’. |
| Advance planning | Planning has to be done in advance, right? There is no other kind of planning. Drop ‘advance’. |
| ATM machine | ATM stands for automatic teller machine. The M is for Machine. You don’t need to say ‘machine’ again. |
| Cameo appearance | A cameo is a brief appearance by an actor in a film. The word ‘appearance’ is built into ‘cameo’. Don’t say it again. |
| Exact same | It is either the same. Or it isn’t. If it isn’t the same, perhaps it is similar? If it is the same, say that. Drop ‘exact’. |
| Past experience | all experience is in the past. Just say ‘experience’. |
| The reason why | tell me the reason why you said that. Tell me why you said that. Spot the difference. The second sentence has fewer words but the same meaning. |
| 12 midnight or 12 noon | just say midnight or noon, everyone knows that they occur at 12am or 12pm. |
| A total of Rs 10,000 | I have Rs 10,000 is the same as ‘I have a total of Rs 10,000’. Drop ‘a total of’. |
| Period of four days | I am here for a period of four days. Just say, ‘I am here for four days’. |
| Circle around | you can circle around the earth. But just say, ‘circle the earth’. There’s no other way but around. It’s understood. |
| End result | the result comes at the end of a process. It's a given. Just say ‘result’. |
| New innovation | as opposed to what? Old innovation? Drop ‘new’. |
| Summarize briefly | to summarize means to express something briefly. Drop ‘briefly’. |
| It’s got a shorter length | just say, ‘it’s shorter’. It’s shorter. |