Redundant words repeat a meaning that is already there, as in return back or absolutely free. They make your writing longer and weaker without adding anything, so cut them, unless the extra word really makes the meaning clearer.
Have you ever heard the famous line by Yogi Berra, "It's déjà vu all over again"? Berra played baseball for the New York Yankees, but he is almost as famous for his sayings as he is for baseball.
Like many of his sayings, this one is a bit of wordplay with redundant words: déjà vu already means the feeling that you are living something again, so "all over again" says the same thing twice.
Berra's line is amusing because of the redundancy, and people who repeat it mean it as a joke. Unfortunately, many writers do not notice when they use redundant words in earnest. In an effort to be more descriptive, they use more words than they need. This is called pleonasm.
The problem is that when you use more words than necessary to describe something, the words lose some of their force. Redundant words also make your writing look weaker and less polished.
Common redundant phrases
Here are a few examples of common phrases with redundant words:
- Absolutely free: if something is free, it is completely free. Nothing is partly free: it is either free or it is not. The word absolutely is absolutely not needed here.
- Return back: to return something means to give it back, so it is redundant to return something "back".
- Evacuate out: to evacuate means to leave a place or to empty it, so there is no need to add out.
- Two twins: twins are, by definition, two of something, so there is no need to add the number two.
When an extra word is fine
In most cases, redundant words are unnecessary and look bad. There are a few exceptions, though, where the extra word does help to make the meaning clear. Whether it does usually depends on the context or on how the phrase is commonly used.
For example, the phrase baby nursery is redundant, because most people think of a nursery as a room for babies. But a nursery can also be a place that sells plants. So unless the conversation is about gardening, you do not need the baby.
Some redundant phrases have also made their way into everyday language. Tuna fish is one: tuna is clearly a type of fish, but the phrase is so common that it is accepted.
Finding redundant words in your own writing
When you proofread a text before you send or submit it, make a point of looking for redundant words. Your writing will be much cleaner without them. Consider the context and how the words are commonly used, but if a redundant word can go, cut it. For a longer list of phrases to watch for, see redundancies to avoid when writing.
A plain spelling check will not find these phrases, because every word in them is spelled correctly. The Picky mode of the Spell Checker adds style suggestions for wordy phrases and repetition, which can point you to some of them. But context matters so much here that you will still have to rely on your own proofreading skills.