The Last and Final Word

We often make jokes about oxymorons - noun and adjective combinations that are funny because they are self-contradictory. The classic examples are "jumbo shrimp," "enormously small," and the ever-popular "military intelligence." But there's another set of words that isn't exactly an oxymoron, but always sets my teeth on edge because it just doesn't make sense. That combination is "last and final."

I got to thinking about this on my recent business trip when I noticed that the gate agents at the airport always seemed to announce that, "This is the last and final call for flight number 666 to Gopher Crotch, Arkansas (or wherever)." Why do they need to say it's the "last and final" call...isn't the final call by definition the last one, or the last one clearly the final one? Is this call more final than other final calls because it's the last one? Why don't they say that "This is the first and initial call for flight blah, blah, blah" when they make the first announcement? Eh?

This isn't just limited to the airlines. I noticed this linguistic phenomenon while riding the Metro here in Virginia: as the train pulls into my station, which is the last one on the line, the train operator always announces that it is "the last and final station." Does that mean that the previous station was the next-to-last and final station on the line? Or the last and nearly final stop?

We sometimes use repetition as a means of reinforcing an idea. The classic speechmaking technique is to "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them," and in its way that's a good method of being sure you beat your audience over the head to make them absorb your message. But how much repetition do you need to ensure people understand that something is the last one? Or the final one?

No deep message for you today. Just an observation on an expression that affects me like nails dragging across the linguistic chalkboard.

And that's my last and final word on the subject.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo