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Collected together?

Tiny NellTiny Nell
edited August 2014 in Writing
Is it tautological to add 'together' to 'collected'?

Comments

  • heatherheather
    Yes, although depending on what you mean and punctuation it could be Ok i.e. the recycling bin was collected, together with the garden bin.

    But I don't think that's what you meant.
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    'Collected' doesn't always mean being put together, but if that's how you're using it then 'together' isn't needed.

    You could refer to a group of children being collected together, meaning all picked up at the same time. Or talk about people in church saying the collect together. Or if you're keen on stamps and stickers you could order the latter by post and therefore collect both together.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    This was the sentence:

    Mum collected together a bag of goodies for Grandma and off we set.
  • LizyLizy
    I'd have avoided the confusion by saying assembled or gathered, or put together. If you're not sure of it already, you'll b=never be happy with it!
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Hmmm, so only use 'together' with 'put'?
  • heatherheather
    You don't really collect a bag of goodies - you collect the goodies to put into the bag.

    So put together would be better anyway, IMO.
    Or collected a bagful of goodies.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    heather, you've done it again!

    Eureka!
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    It doesn't matter how many times I look at something, I get blind to what's outside the box.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Mum collected a bag of goodies - implies, from somewhere else.
    Mum collected a bagful of goodies - implies the same, but could mean she collected the contents from various sources.
    Mum gathered together a bagful of goodies - implies she sourced the items that went into a bag. As heather said, she didn't gather the bag.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Oh, yes, Mrs Bear. I like that last one.

    Sorry, heather, you've been trumped!
  • LizyLizy
    It doesn't matter how many times I look at something, I get blind to what's outside the box.
    Don't we all!

  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Thanks, everyone.
    As usual, you led me to the correct solution.

    What stars!

    (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) (*)
  • heatherheather
    Sorry, heather, you've been trumped!
    I prefer to think of it as teamwork!

  • C2C2
    And what a team :)>-
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Absolutely! I was just goading you, naughty Nell that I am.
  • C2C2
    Nello's you are a little tinker.
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    It doesn't matter how many times I look at something,
    The more we look the more confused we get it seems. Often if we just write it, it's fine. Then we start thinking and doubting.

  • heatherheather
    I was editing a story today and I changed one line dozens of times until I was happy with it.
    Then I checked and it was the same as my original version.
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    If I'm not happy with a line or phrase after three tries I delete it. That usually solves the problem.
  • Tristram_ShandyTristram_Shandy
    I've done that a few times, Heather :) Sometimes the first way is the right way, but you have to try other roads to get back to the right one.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Oh, yes, Mrs Bear. I like that last one.

    Sorry, heather, you've been trumped!
    'Nelly the elephant packed her trunk and said goodbye to the circus, Off she went with a trumpety trump. Trump, trump, trump.
    (Well, someone had to.)
  • LizyLizy
    The head of the herd was calling far, far away . . .
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    They met one night in the silver light on the road to Mandalay...
  • LizyLizy
    Where the flying fishes play and the sun comes up like thunder . . .
  • DeneBebboDeneBebbo
    This was the sentence:

    Mum collected together a bag of goodies for Grandma and off we set.
    I would have written "put together".

  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Where the flying fishes play and the sun comes up like thunder . . .
    ...out of China 'cross the bay

    My dad used to launch into that song just because he could, with no prompting whatsoever. Actually, he used to launch into song at any time at all, just for the joy of it.

  • LizyLizy
    Mrs Bear - your dad sounds like a lovely man.

    And while I was asking the OH if he knew the next bit, I remembered that Rudyard Kipling wrote 'the dawn comes up like thunder".

    My daughter then got out her I-phone and looked it up and recited the whole song- the wonders of modern technology!
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    As a result of this thread, I went to physio singing The Road to Mandalay to Mr Bear in the car. He got his revenge on the way home, and I can confirm for posterity that there is a more annoying song to have stuck in your head than that one. And the winner is (people of a nervous disposition, look away now): Gilbert O'Sullivan's Ooh Wackado Wackaday.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Lizy, he was. A man of the Yorkshire persuasion, larger than life, and frequently louder, especially as his hearing deteriorated. One of a kind.
  • heatherheather
    I've had 'I'm Mandy, Fly Me' in my head for days now. Don't know why.
    Never mind flying, it's driving me up the wall!
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