Saying It Once Is Enough

They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Well, in TV it is also just good business. You see, most of the time it is the subject matter, not the stars of the show, which really matter. For example, while people sitting at home want to watch other people dig through abandoned storage lockers, they aren't particularly invested in exactly who is doing the digging. This is why as soon as a network has a good idea you will see it on another network by the next round of new shows. A couple months ago I mentioned how much I enjoyed SpikeTV's documentary series, "Gangland". Each episode of this show takes an hour to dive into the various gangs across America and a marathon on TV can really kill any plans I might have had for that Saturday. Therefore, I was not really surprised when I was flipping around my TV dial and landed on a show called, "Gang World" on another channel. Again, the premise of the show was to take an hour and tell the story of one gang from its founding until today. As near as I can tell the only difference in the two shows is that this one will also examine gangs outside of America, because the episode I caught last night was all about a Canadian biker gang.

First off, I don't know why, but the Canadian biker gangs just seem less dangerous than the American biker gangs. I assume it has to do with the accents. Go ahead, try saying these phrases out loud with your best Canadian accent going: "We were running a lot of Coke, eh? Sure, that other gang wanted in on our turf because they were just a bunch of hosers. So we firebombed their clubhouse, eh." For some reason it just doesn't sound nearly as bad. Not that these guys weren't bad dudes, because they were. I think the most amazing thing about these documentary series is how the can almost make you feel sorry for the subjects, who in any other setting would be far from sympathetic figures. If you were watching a show from the cops' perspective you would almost be rooting for them to be taken out, but when you are watching these shows with the gangs as the central figures and the leader of the gang goes missing you almost feel bad for him, despite the fact that he's a murdering drug dealer. But, that's not the point of this post (hang on, almost there.) What I wanted to talk about today is that when they were describing his death a phrase seemed to jump out at me: "Shot in the head, execution-style."

Now, I've watched my fair share of cop shows and murder mysteries over the years, so I've heard this phrase dozens if not hundreds of times. But for some reason it stuck with me on this viewing. I took some time to think about it and suddenly it seems very redundant. I know that it is meant to explain a person was shot once in the back of the head, probably without warning. Still, when you get right down to it, aren't all gunshots to the head done execution-style? I mean, no one shoots another person in the head to send a message, other than the obvious one of: "I no longer want you to be alive." Honestly, telling me that the shooter was trying to execute the other person is a waste of words. Once my antennae were up about this kind of word redundancy it was suddenly the only thing I could hear. Like a lot of things, when you go looking for them they really start to pop out at you. These are just a few of the ones I caught over the last day or so.

Close Proximity: I use this one all the time, so I can't really fault someone for doing it. Still, proximity implies the person is already close, so it is really unnecessary. The best way to know a phrase is redundant is to ask if you would ever say it the opposite way and you would never say something was in far proximity because it doesn't make sense. I'm going to make an effort to stop using this one.

Future Potential: With the NFL draft starting this tonight and lasting through the weekend, I have been hearing this phrase all week long as analysts talk about players developing to the next level and only now do I see how odd it is. After all, potential is always in the future, otherwise it would no longer be potential and just be talent. Unless of course you are JaMarcus Russell, in which case your potential was imaginary.

General Public: You couldn't be any more general than to describe a group of people as "the public". It doesn't even give a hint about their make-up in terms of race, sex or age. Honestly, it is the most open-ended phrase I could think of to describe a gathering of humans. Calling someone the general public barely implies they have faces. Yet, tickets to sporting events are always "on sale to the general public." Suddenly being a fan feels like a very one-sided relationship.

Combined Total: You hear this phrase on game-shows all the time. It is kind of ironic, considering those are usually tests of knowledge, so you expect one person on the staff to recognize that a total is always when numbers are added up, or combined if you wanted to use another word. Sounds like someone isn't smarter than a 5th Grader.

Free Gift: I got a letter in the mail the other day from one of the contests I entered at the Golf Expo. While I didn't win the trip I had originally been entered for, I was being offered the chance to come in and try again. The letter promised that even if I failed a second time to win the trip I would be given a "free gift" for my troubles. Now, I was never planning to go in because I'm pretty sure the "free gift" I would get is just another opportunity for them to sell me a time-share. But that doesn't change the fact that all gifts are free, otherwise they aren't gifts. If the thought of sitting through an hour-long sales pitch wasn't enough to dissuade me from going, the fact they felt compelled to explain the gift is free would be.