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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Criminal Sentence 88: "Each and every"

A common redundancy:

"Each and every day, I eat oatmeal."

That's a healthy breakfast but not a healthy sentence

The phrase "each and every" is redundant because the words "each" and "every" mean the same thing. So it's as if you said, "I'm wearing a red and red shirt."

Try to ban the phrase "each and every" from your writing. Just use "each" or "every."

Thank you and thank you.

2 comments:

Doug and Amanda said...

I'm having a hard time accepting this. Wouldn't it be acceptable for emphasis?

The Sentence Sleuth said...

Thanks for your comment.
This is a style issue more than a right or wrong issue. Still, I feel it's redundant to say "Each and every night you must brush your teeth." I suppose I could grudgingly allow it for emphasis, but it's becoming a cliche. I feel it's a lazy phrase that's used instead of something more imaginative.