And now, with no further ado...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Am I alone in my dislike for this term?

By my rough informal estimate, at least 50% of folks who give words of welcome or introduction use this phrase to wrap up their remarks. But these words serve entirely no purpose. Instead of telling us what you are going to do with no further ado, why don’t you just do it?!

I think I find this phrase jarring because it so often comes at the end of remarks that are already too long.

Is there some Public Speaking for Dummies that tells people that including superfluous phrases like this makes them sound important?

2

It’s even better in print when as often as not it’s “with no further adieu.”

3

How about, “And now, a man who needs no introduction…” following (or followed by) by a lengthy introduction.

4

I’ve always heard it as “And now, without further ado”

It would be fun if someoene gave the above line, and then walked off. And the man who didn’t need an introduction walks on.

5

But that’s exactly the point: it’s said to acknowledge that there has already been ado. If there had been no prior ado, then there’d be no reason to note that there will be no further ado. But since it’s established that there has already been ado, how can the audience be certain that what’s coming next won’t simply be more ado? There needs to be a formalized system in place for distinguishing ado from non-ado, and this is it.

6

It’s a more polite way of saying “…but here I am, nattering on like an idiot when I should just show you the damn thing. So here it is.”

ie. they’re acknowledging that the introduction was long and superfluous, but that they’re now moving onto the meat and potatoes, so maybe it’s time to start paying attention.