Many of us fall easily to what the English masters and purists consider as flowery or elongated statements, all in attempt to impress rather than express ourselves and thoughts in the most simple and straightforward manner. Verbosity or grandiloquence makes it difficult for the majority of people to understand and appreciate better one’s feelings whether in the written or spoken word. The message, in most cases, is lost when we indulge in long winding phrases. One should try as much as possible to avoid prefixes and suffixes, or combination of words that are not only tautology but redundant.
There are several of such expressions that most writers still find alluring and fascinating, though they are stale, redundant and unfit for use in mass communication. As I did observe before now, jargons and technical language are meant for a narrow audience. But not when one is addressing a larger publics made up of people with different educational backgrounds – the literate and not too literate persons. This example of redundant phrase, “collaborate together” falls into the family of tautology being bandied around under the guise of trying to sound impressive. They distort clarity and are therefore classified as redundant, stale and ambiguous expressions.
The statement “collaborate together,” which I must confess, is still being circulated, even as I write, in the written or spoken form, is highly objectionable. Use either of the two separate words, standing on its own, to express your thoughts or make sense of people forming a common front to solve or fix a problem, or enter into a joint venture. So, one can simply and plainly write, “collaborate” or “together” to conjure the feeling of joining forces to tackle or confront an issue of common interest to the community. In other words, the verb “collaborate” and the adverb “together” are synonymous. Engage one, not the two separate words to make a clear statement. Chambers 21st Century Dictionary distinguishes between the two relatives, “collaborate” and “together.” According to the dictionary definition, the word “collaborate,” is to work together with another or others on something, (task.) On the other hand, the word, “together,” to gather (come together) to execute something. You can now see reason why the two can not altogether be used to express your thoughts. The noun, “title” and the verb “entitle” have always been indiscriminately employed to mean the same thing.
But that is wrong. Again, I have to revisit the issue to correct the impression that either of the two words can be used at the convenience of the writer. The dictionary tells us, they mean different things. For instance, the word “title” has to do with the name of a book, musical composition, or other work. It also describes someone’s position or job, such as Dr., Mrs. or Lord, used before or instead of someone’s name to indicate rank or profession. Conversely, the word “entitle” is to give someone a right to do or have something. Give a title to a book, play etc., especially, in the reported speech or when reporting events such as the launch of a book, music and others.
