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Fighting talk; redundancies

Posted by Bob on December 01, 2001

In Reply to: Fighting talk; redundancies posted by R. Berg on November 30, 2001

: : The UK news today talked of ethnic Pashduns and 'troops on the ground'. Curious. I wonder if there are any non-ethnic Pashduns or troops who confound their enemies by hovering six inches above the ground?

: : Two non-war tautologies I enjoyed recently are 'local housing' and 'advance booking'. Anyone else who enjoys (or is it suffers?) from this kind of thing couldn't do better than read the inspired 'catechism of cliche' in Flann O'Brien's Best of Myles.

: : Gary

: The U.S. press also talks of "troops on the ground" to distinguish them from troops in airplanes.

: I often see "potentially dangerous" in reputable publications. Is there a difference between potentially dangerous and actually dangerous?

Oh, I can see that one. A clear and present danger (the guy with the knife) versus the guy who looks like he might have a knife....

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