SMART TALKSMART TALK SMART TALK
By Dr. Shirley Glibb

The Institute for the Linguistically Impaired is, of course, in Texas. At our facility in Underbelly, the seat of Lengua Loco County, we spend most of our time treating patients for Redundancy Disorder. To borrow a coinage of a native son who deserves to remain nameless, we don’t misunderestimate the magnitude of our task.

But imagine my dismay at seeing redundancies printed large in ads and on labels, such as free gift. Clearly, some potential patients escape us.

I was shocked again today, walking into a book store’s coffee shop. There, displayed on a rack, sat boxes labeled Chai Tea. Don’t the drink’s producers know that chai means tea? It’s a tea preparation from Central Asia, heavily flavored with spices and diluted with milk. Yak milk, if it’s authentic.

Saying chai tea is like saying soda pop, or like the advice to drink liquids.

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