"Whether or Not"

This blog site is not strictly religious or political. This entry might fall under the category of "musings." And it's not very deep.

When writing, I try to avoid the phrase "whether or not," even though it's commonly used. It seems redundant. Doesn't the word "whether" already imply "or not-ness"?

For example, look at these sentences:

1. Does it matter whether or not I leave the toilet seat up?
2. Does it matter whether I leave the toilet seat up?

Both sentences mean the same thing, but the second is more efficient.

Sometimes it's not that easy. Try this one:

1. You're going to finish your supper, young man, whether you like it or not!
2. You're going to finish your supper, young man, whether you like it!

The first sentence makes sense, but not the second. In such cases, I have succumbed to using "or not."

Out of stubornness, however, I've found ways around it. In my blog entry about purgatory, I originally wrote,

Whether or not you've defined it for yourself, most likely you believe in a "purgatory" of sorts . . .

But after a short struggle, I finally came up with,

No matter whether you've defined it for yourself, most likely you believe in a "purgatory" of sorts . . .

This gave me a strange satisfaction. While it's no shorter, still I beat that miserable "or not" -- even though it was begging to hang out with "whether."

William Zinnser, author of On Writing Well, rightly declares, "Clutter is the disease of American writing." Whether or not you agree with that diagnosis is your business, but it's something I try to remember. Usually.