I’m going to try to do better!! :o
That reminds me of Penrod and Sam:
My mom does this too, even including, “So I sez hi, and she sez hi, and I sez how are you, and she sez fine…”
The thing that is really getting my goat lately is the word “awesome”. It’s an awesome word, but it’s starting to take over the damn world. Count how many times you hear it in a day…if it’s less than fucking fifty I envy you. And the worst of it is, I say it myself!
Yeah, no, there’s another redundancy thing I hear in advertising, along the lines of “No other {product} is {more effective}”. The word “other” is meaningless because any {product} that was {more effective} would have to be another product, it clearly couldn’t be the *same *one.
Shodan, your post (#65) is sweet. I see what you did at the end there.
Back in '08, someone in this thread mentioned an acquaintance who repeats everything he says, but in a whisper. I noticed my 5-year-old son does this sometimes (usually repeating just the last word or two, not the whole sentence), but in specific situations – I think when he’s a little uncertain, either of what he’s saying or of what the reaction will be to what he’s saying.
I wondered where he picked up this quirk…until I noticed that I do the same thing sometimes! I’ve probably been doing it for years. Funny how kids can be like mirrors.
Well, there is one thing you do that drives me a little crazy.
I’ll see that, and raise you “up to 50% off or more!”
That, literally, is completely meaningless. Stop it!
There is absolutely no reason to assume that “added bonus” implies a secondary (or beyond) bonus. It is a bonus, which is added to the original bonus-less thing. Just like “added sugar” means sugar which is added into food during the production process; whether or not there was sugar before (i.e. in the natural ingredients) is irrelevant. There’s nothing wrong with that construction and you are pedantically hyper-correcting to suggest otherwise.
So, ummm… I’m worried that my students will, ummm, read this? So yeah, and ummm, start counting my sos and ummms.
I think it’s my way of saying “Hang in there, kids. As soon as my brain (that’s been over-worked for sixty-some years) catches up I WILL have a point.”
But the very definition of bonus is something added. It’s redundant and repetitive to call the first added thing an added bonus.
I started reading this not realizing it was a zombie, but never mind. It reminded me of a character on the wonderful Brit sitcom The Vicar of Dibley – I think it was Jim – who couldn’t start any sentence without saying “No no no no no” first.
A lot of the scenes were town council meetings where Jim would give his assent to some proposal by saying “No no no no no YES!”. There was a scene where the town council was holding an outdoor concert and unfortunately picked Jim to handle the PA announcements, so the crowd would hear things like “No no no no no parking behind the refreshment tent”. 
A bonus would be anything that isn’t the main benefit. It doesn’t have to be an add-on at all. “I love running, and as a bonus, it’s good for me.”
Right. See how well that worked without “added”?
You said a bonus has to be something added. An added bonus is something added. A bonus can be added or not added.
“I love running, and as a bonus, it’s good for me. As an added bonus, I listen to podcasts while I’m running, so I stay well-informed.”
Perfect; we’re in agreement.
You have one good thing
I love running.
You add one thing (a bonus)
As a bonus, it is good for me.
You add another thing (an added bonus)
As an added bonus, …I stay well-informed.
You don’t even understand my argument.
“I love running. As an added bonus, I listen to podcasts while I run, so I stay informed.”
It’s not inherent to the running. It’s added. That’s a distinct type of bonus.
If you don’t agree that a bonus is always in addition to something, no, I don’t understand your argument. I would say the sentence formulated does not need the “added”.
I understand what you’re saying. The word “added” in this case means “additional”. You have to already have one bonus in order to have an additional bonus. Otherwise, it’s just a plain old bonus.
Years ago I saw another comic who held up signs with the sayings on them as he said them. Their mealtime conversation went like this (signs in caps):
“JAV NUFF DEET?” “JAUNT SMORE?”
“Yeah, I’ll have more a them taters.”
“Taters? EAR YAR.”
Closed the set with a sign that said “PRESHADIT”.