old custom, usual custom, custom

Redundancies are words that unnecessarily repeat information. Because a custom indicates a routine or tradition, the modifiers old and usual in the familiar expressions old custom and usual custom are redundant.

  • Saying “Bless you” after someone sneezes is a custom (not an old custom) that may have originated in the time of Pope Gregory the Great.
  • It was David and Monica’s custom (not usual custom) to go out for a drink after their weekly squash game.

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