This is part of a ten part series in which I “go to war” against a thing or group. Some of these posts are to be taken seriously; others are not. It is up to you, the reader, to differentiate between the two.
If you know me well, you know that I am slow to be terribly angry but very easily annoyed. I do my best to not be annoyed by things that could best be classified as quirks, for I would be the biggest hypocrite in the world if I got annoyed by quirkiness. Since redundancy is not covered under the broad umbrella of quirkiness amnesty, it is fair game.
For those of you who did not learn the meaning of this word in a vocabulary list, it is, according to dictionary.com, “superfluous repetition or overlapping, especially of words.” The next definition after that should be “something that especially bothers Jakob Duehr.” If you say something once, there is no need to say it again, especially immediately after saying it the first time. Let me give you a few examples of this bothersome behavior.
1. The Current Cheetos Ad Campaign: “Take a Cheetos Break with Cheetos.”
If you haven’t seen these commercials, they ultimately involve a bunch of guys sitting around not doing their job and eating Cheetos with Chester the Cheetah, while a coworker or boss is not invited to partake in the break. The commercial ends with the above slogan. Aside from the fact that this is an absolutely STUPID campaign in that it equates sloth with using the product, the slogan is ridiculous. What else would they be taking a Cheetos Break with? Funyuns? Tic Tacs? Are they trying to target the world’s dumbest demographic—those who have no idea what the necessary ingredients are in order to take a Cheetos Break? As much as that bothers me, it does not annoy me nearly as much as the next example.
2. One of the personal trainers at my gym is guilty of double redundancy. Everyone in the gym sees her working out with the aesthetically unfortunate and also sees them return to her desk, which is only used by -- you guessed it-- personal trainers. Therefore, it is absolutely redundant that she wears a shirt that says “Personal Trainer”. I would probably let this slide in and of itself because the gym is full of oblivious people. However, I cannot accept this further example of egregious redundancy. There is another line on the shirt directly below the “Personal Trainer” line. This line reads “Ask me about personal training!” What else would I ask you about? How to balance my stock portfolio? The best tourist spots in downtown Chicago? The meaning of life? I can only imagine how fun she must be on a date. Ask her a simple question like how her day went and prepare to hear the same answer multiple times.
3. When people use multiple phrases with the same meaning consecutively.
One of my online hangout spots is a little place called Stickam. While I could write on and on about my experiences there, the only purpose it serves in this blog is as a background. I am often in chatrooms, so I am somewhat fluent in “chatspeak”. One of the most glaring offenses of redundancy occurs when someone decides to end their own statements with both “LOL” and “haha” (or other acronyms such as ROFL, etc. which mean the same thing). First of all, it is poor form to end your own statements with laughter. It is like a comedian standing on stage laughing at his or her own jokes, or a singer clapping at the end of a song. Let the people respond as they see fit. It is NEVER appropriate to stack a “haha” on top of an “LOL”. You are trying way too hard to get us to be amused, and even if I found the initial statement amusing, I am now so put off by your redundancy that I am negatively disposed to the entire statement.
Redundancy is an affliction that affects many in the world today, but it is a fight that can be won. Do your part to slay this dragon. If you or anyone you know has been affected by this, please make a concerted effort to correct this destructive behavior. Together, we can make a difference in creating a less repetitive world for generations to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment