Today’s word is brought to you by Radio Disk Jockeys. There are three kinds: those you listen to, those you don’t, and those who you question, “Who the heck thought (s)he belonged on the radio?”
Redundant (adj.): exceeding what is necessary or normal; characterized by or containing an excess; using more words than necessary; characterized by similarity or repetition. “Doesn’t the definition for the word redundant seem a bit… redundant?”
So today’s blog is a true story. It’s short and sweet and straight to the point. It is not very long. It will only take a short time to read.
JEEZ!!! Redundancy is contagious!
But I digress. Today’s word takes us back to a beautiful Friday afternoon. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and over all the day had gone pretty peachy. My mom and I were driving from… somewhere (I honestly can’t remember, which means that it probably wasn’t significant), but we were driving down a long stretch of word where street construction had been going on for the past ten million years it seems (those of you who know me personally probably know exactly what road I am talking about). Anyway, it’s me, mom, annoying birds, scorching sun, and we are listening to one of our favorite radio stations.
Now, let me just say that I know for a fact that it was after 3pm because the radio DJ on was one that I highly dislike. For the sake of privacy, and the fact that I don’t have the money to go through a lawsuit, we’ll rename the disk jockey (can I get a “whoop whoop” for old school terminology?) RiTA. Now I honestly cannot tell you why I do not like RiTA; there’s just something that rubs me the wrong way. And if you were to hold me at gun point while strangling me with a piece of rope and slitting my wrists, my answer would then be simply: RiTA is way too redundant.
Today’s example:
Mom: “And that’s what I believe…”
Me: Turns up radio. “Still hoping to marry Donnie McClurkin?”
Mom: Looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “He can’t handle me.”
Me: Laughs.
RiTA: “You’re listening to RiTA and that was Believe by Donnie McClurkin. It’s a beautiful Friday afternoon and in a minute we’ll start our discussions but right now I want to ask you a question. It’s stimulating, and most people don’t even think about it, but I’m askin’ you to think about and then call in your answer. The question is, “Are you looking for wisdom today?” I’m asking you that.“
Okay, stop. After I heard that, I had to turn down the music and fully face my mom, which is hard when wearing a seatbelt properly. What the heck was that? “Are you looking for wisdom today? I’m asking you that.” HELLLLOOOOO?!?!?! Do you not hear the question mark? Do you not understand that when the tone at the end of a sentence goes up that it signals a question? Why ask a question and then remind that you are asking it? I know, I know. I’m a stickler for this kind of stuff and it might not bother you the way it does me, but honestly? That damages my self-esteem! You don’t think I’m intelligent enough to know when you are asking a question? First of all, you started the sentence off with “Are”, an immediate sign that this is not a sentence of the declarative persuasion. I think from that I can deduce that, “Hey, look! He’s asking a question!” And then, he even pre-announces that he’s asking the question.
I don’t know about you, but this just… as soon as I heard it, I wrote it down in my agenda to blog about it. I was so upset at that moment that I didn’t, and still don’t, have a laptop because this blog might have been a bit longer than it actually is. I was feeling intense emotions that day…
But tell me: am I blowing this out of proportion? Should I give RiTA another chance to redeem my good graces? Comment or poll it (I’m gonna give it a shot!). Stay blessed you guys!
~SmrtChka
