Is it just me, or does it seem like we’ve been trained never to repeat a word—resort to a thesaurus before you dare to use the word “mob” three times on a page (because “criminal organization” has that same punch, doesn’t it?). It’s like we’ve been programmed to excise all uses of the same word from our writing (thesaurus = well worn!) and, frankly, sometimes repetition is rhythmic and even lyrical. Parallelism—beginning multiple sentences the same way? Anathema!

Or, more likely, anaphora. Sentence- or phrase-initial repetition is an age-old rhetorical device:

Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition! — Shakespeare, King John, II, i

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right… — Abraham Lincoln

[W]e shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. — Winston Churchill

And that’s just one type of rhetorical repetition. I applaud repetition for a good purpose—cadence, humor, contrast. Lather, rinse, repeat!

Dwight V. Swain (Techniques of the Selling Writer, 33) points out the best way to make sure that your repetition is understood as intentional—the Rule of Three. Use something twice and it looks accidental, but go for the third time “and after, if you don’t carry it to absurdity,” Swain adds), and we have to assume you meant it.

Granted, we must also be careful we don’t overuse words and phrases. (Churchill’s full paragraph from that speech contains 11 “we shalls,” including 7 “we shall fights.” Was that overdoing it? Probably not—especially since that was delivered orally. Written out, it might feel a little less impressive and a little more redundant.) There are definitely times when we inadvertently repeat words. Crit partners (and Find & Replace—I’m loving Word 2007’s Reading highlight) are great for catching those.

When you repeat a word, do it on purpose. If there’s no better word for that situation, see if you can repeat that word for some effect—rhythm, sonority, humor.

What do you think? How do you repeat words—and make it clear you’re repeating those words on purpose?

Photo by Eric Tastad