The Lord of the Acoma shifted knobby knees beneath the desk. “I am answering my father’s letter. Listen to this: ‘Dear Father: Are you well? I have won all my wrestling matches at the soldiers’ bath at Sulan-Qu. I am well. Mara is well.’ … What should I say next?” Barely masking irritation, Mara said, “Why don’t you ask if your brothers are well?”

This quote from Janny Wurts and Raymond Feist’s “Daughter of the Empire” gives a good example of our word of the day: redundancy. Although both Feist and Wurts are excellent writers, able to create rich descriptions of landscapes and situations through their use of vocabulary, in this passage they’ve deliberately created a very uninteresting – though humorous – bit of text. By using the same word over and over again, a letter that might have been a pleasure to receive and read becomes a boring exercises in repetition.

The word redundancy has two main definitions, though they’re related in concept. When speaking of vocabulary, redundancy refers both to repetition of words and to the use of more words than necessary to convey a concept. The passage above illustrates the first meaning, and phrases like completely unique and free gift the second (if something is “unique” it’s by definition different from anything else, so the word “completely” is redundant; likewise, a gift is always free). A more general meaning of the word redundant is “no longer needed, outdated.” For example, many older homes still have oil tanks in their basements even though they’re now completely heated by natural gas; the oil tank is part of a redundant system.

One way to avoid redundancy is to practice learning and using synonyms. The verbally-challenged letter-writer quoted above actually has several options to use instead of the word “well.” He and his family could be flourishing, healthy or (more archaically) fit as a fiddle. When you expand your vocabulary with synonyms, you’ll have the ability to write more creatively and descriptively, and what you write will be more interesting to the reader. This is important for many reasons, particularly those related to your work environment. If you need to communicate on any topic, whether you’re writing a summary e-mail or giving a presentation to a group, holding your audience’s attention is crucial. You might have the facts and figures they need to know, but if you’re not able to present them in an interesting way, you’ll find it hard to get a good response. Managers always have their eyes out for capable and effective speakers who know how to use vocabulary to their advantage. Expand your English vocabulary with synonyms, and you’ll never be the worker who’s found to be redundant – in any sense of the word!