We have addressed the issue of redundancy in this column by pointing to the ubiquitous use of “help improve,” a phrase that usually would mean the same thing if only one of those words were used. “Editing will help improve your writing” means the same as “Editing will improve your writing.” Redundant use of “well” also has been noted: “most well known” instead of “most known” or “best known,” “most well written” when “best written” would suffice.
What gives?
There is another redundancy that pops up often in the print and broadcast media, in ads, on bloggers’ sites, and in literature of various other kinds. It’s the “any given” phrase.
A publisher’s website invites new authors to submit works, but issues the caveat, “We take only a very small number of authors in any given year.”
One asks: How would the meaning of that sentence change with the wording, “We take only a very small number of authors in any year”? It wouldn’t change one iota.
A rose is a rose is a rose
Okay, let’s try changing it to, “We take only a very small number of authors in a given year.” “Any” has been changed to “a,” and again, the meaning is exactly the same.
Why is the meaning unchanged when “given” is dropped or “any” is changed to the indefinite article “a”? Because “any” and “given” mean the same thing. As applied to “year,” each means no particular year. The publisher accepts works by only a small number of authors in whatever year one wants to cite. To use both “any” and “given” to describe “year” is redundant, unnecessary, superfluous, wordy.
Calling the kettle black
Uh-oh. Look who just waxed redundant.
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