-1

Under my answer in Space Exploration SE I just added the comment:

Note: I'll point folks back up to the comments under the question and to the other answer(s), both of which contain a wealth of additional informative information.

In my personal experience I come across plenty of information that I do not personally find particularly informative in a given context.

But when I write "informative information" to others, does it look like I'm being redundant, or is it something that is likely to make sense to most people? Is there a different word that would do the same job but not be so hard on the eyes?

Both additional and informative seem to be adjectives describing information, if I kept it, do I need to insert a comma?

It just looks wrong, but I can't put my finger on why.

Improve this question
6
  • 2
    Switching to either "useful information" or "informative data" would help you obscure the substantial conceptual overlap between "informative" and "information."
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Jul 22 at 1:39
  • @SvenYargs Yes indeed, and given my propensity to qualify, caveat and/or constrain everything, I might even add "potentially" to either "helpful" or "useful". Yes, that's what I should have done.
    – uhoh
    Commented Jul 22 at 1:44
  • "information" is a neutral term, it doesn't express the quality. But "informative" implies high quality.
    – Barmar
    Commented Jul 22 at 1:48
  • 1
    You definitely should NOT add a comma between an adjective and the noun it modifies.
    – Barmar
    Commented Jul 22 at 1:49
  • 1
    @StuartF Indeed I could. In this case though, that might be overly presumptive since I'm directing others to it and they probably don't care what I think is fascinating in this case. But in other cases, that will definitely work.
    – uhoh
    Commented Jul 22 at 10:47

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

You are correct. informative information is redundant. Whether you like the quality of the information or not it is by definition informative. When information is new or at least previously unknown then it is most informative. Suggestions in the comments are very valuable, particularly Barmar on the comma; don't. Your writing will greatly improve (perforce) if you work to resist the propensity to qualify. This was Hemingway's first lesson when he became a newspaper writer; avoid adjectives. It served him well. You can afford to give it a try.

Improve this answer
3
  • Strung-together adjectives and qualifiers are my way of mollifying the half-dozen critics that have taken up residency in my head my entire adult life. You've hit the nail on the head here, but we won't share it with them just yet ;-)
    – uhoh
    Commented Jul 22 at 2:35
  • 1
    I think many of us have these flowing lists of modifiers rolling through our heads. The practice of writing better requires us to redirect them off to some destination besides the page. If this has hit the nail squarely enough you might mark this as the answer. Thank you and Good reading to you.
    – Elliot
    Commented Jul 23 at 3:26
  • Yep - I usually wait about a week before accepting answers (of which I've accepted thousands) - some folks only log in every few days, and the delayed bump back to the active queue usually brings an up vote or two more for the answer author, and as it looks like in this case, a down vote or two more for me :-) (I certainly wish SE had timers or alarm clocks for this sort of thing)
    – uhoh
    Commented Jul 23 at 7:04

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.