Monday 5/3

Too, Also

Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t watch Oprah.  It is, however, usually on the TV when I get home from work.  Therefore, I often overhear what’s being said, and who’s the guest, and all that jazz.  Well one day last week, I was within earshot of Oprah interviewing Rielle Hunter.  (Rielle Hunter, in case you aren’t aware, is the woman John Edwards had an affair with before everything went downhill for him.)  (John Edwards, also in case you need a refresher, was a contender for the Democratic presidential candidacy before Obama beat him out.)  This is by no means an exact quote from the interview, but the general idea is there.  Once you get past all the “Love conquers all” and the “Hearts speak louder than minds” crap Rielle Hunter was blinking on about, you’ll find the real benign essence of her dialogue.

Oprah:  Do you admit to it being a mistake that you were the subject of John Edwards cheating on his wife, Elizabeth?

Reille:  First of all, we love each other.  That being said, it was a mistake that I will never repeat again.

Throughout the entire interview, anyone with a brain could see how full of crap Rielle Hunter is.  She dodges almost every question.  She blinks a lot (which could, in fact, be natural, but when you’re trying not to like someone, it’s easy to hold it against them.)  She had to concentrate on looking straight at Oprah to answer questions.  She still refuses to admit a relationship.  She admitted how sneaky she had been.  She blinks a lot (did I already say that?).  Anyway, leave it to me to pick out the un-obvious here.  She hit on one of my personal pet peeves.  She said, (and this is a direct quote) “… I will never repeat again.”

Repeat again?  Those two words basically mean the same thing. 

Repeat = do something again.

Again   = repeat.

Hmm…  People do this all the time and in my opinion, it’s ignorant.  It’s like saying something is enormously big!  That’s just an adjective describing an adjective (an ad-adjective, I suppose).  Here’s another one for you, “sopping wet.”  Well, if something is sopping, isn’t it implicitly wet?  How about a “news report?”  A report could be anything, but news is always a report, right?  We can’t stop silly things from being said (especially on TV), but we can definitely be cautious of saying them ourselves!  So next time you’re about to say something twice, but with two different words so you sound smarter, try using a period, instead.  Your dignity will thank you.

By: S. Cole Garrett