This may not rank as one of the most important grammar tips you'll ever receive, but if just a few of us start to realize the idiocy of the phrase "each and every," I will feel better.
Think about it: why would anyone say (or write) "each and every" anything? Isn't that one of the world's great redundancies?
Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security, was quoted in today's USA Today as saying, "Each and every one of the security measures we implement serves an important goal." Now, that's all very absolute sounding, but wouldn't it have been just as correct (and a whole lot less wordy) if she'd said:
"Each one of the security measure..."
OR
"Every one of the security measures."?
Really, it's the same thing! So why do we Americans persist in saying "each and every"? I leave that question to you...
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