On Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:54:10 +1000, Franc Zabkar
wrote:

SNIP

or why Americans say "off of" when "off" will suffice.
:
:- Franc Zabkar


In the same vein, I hate the use of another "americanism"... When talking of
removing say a single item from a group of items, there is a growing trend to
say "separate out", or "separating out". This is clearly an example of word
redundancy. The verb "separate" denotes that an item has been, or is to be,
"removed" or "taken out", so there is no need to include the "out" after the
verb "separate". I have even heard academics and english lecturers using this
redundancy, thus further promoting its use in the community.

If I simply say I am "separating item A from a group of items" this clearly
means I am "taking out" item A and leaving the rest of the items in the group.
If I say I am "separating out item A from a group of items" it follows that I
must be "taking out" out item A from a group of items. Not correct,is it?