- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK by Dr. Verbos Metikulos
FIRST AND FOREMOST: We often refer patients who use this phrase to Dr. Viva Palaver, our staff psychologist here at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired. They need to resolve insecurities about not always being first before standard anti-redundancy treatment can help them.
Like people who (often rightly) fear that they have no credibility and say to tell you the truth, making you think they've been lying so far, these patients show their fear of lagging behind by using first and foremost and first of all.
Firstly, however, is a completely grammatical problem, not a psychological one, and therefore easier to treat.
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