Repetitive Redundancies Dept. -- #1

Ah yes, the unnecessary modifier. Writing instructors and journalists have railed for millennia against those words that sound authoritative and increase the word count of your essay, but do nothing to provide any meaningful additional context to the word it is supposedly modifying. Some even raise unnecessary questions. I encounter new ones with distressing frequency.

A recent example: I encountered this dispenser in a local restaurant's rest room. Knowing that the dispenser holds soap, as opposed to hand sanitizer, is useful information. But now I have a question: Where does Purell sell its unhealthy soap, and what ingredients does it put in it?

More to come ....