Each and every

[THWatson]

One of my pet peeves is the, seemingly growing, use of "each and every". I hear this used even by prominent TV newscasters.

For example, "Each and every one of them worked hard."

Redundancies abound.

Tom

 

[BillyRayPreachersSon]

I think it is trying to put the emphasis on the fact that it was a real team effort... Possibly akin to saying "I worked 120%", to emphasise how hard you worked, when clearly, you cannot work more than 100%!

Dan

 

[MakeItSo]

I'd still consider the phrase correct.

According to what I have learned,
every refers to the entirety of the workers, whereas each refers to each single worker.

So "each worked hard" gives stronger emphasis to every(?) single worker of the team without exception.

To me, "Each and every one worked hard" means that every single worker worked hard, as well as the team in its entirety.

[blue]The last voice we will hear before the world explodes will be that of an expert saying:
"This is technically impossible!" - Sir Peter Ustinov[/blue]

 

[rasETL]

Other examples...

one and all

part and parcel

 

[THWatson]

Thanks for the responses. An interesting topic.

Here's my thinking...with references to a Random House dictionary...

EACH "every one of two or more considered individually or one by one"

EVERY "being one of an aggregate or series taken collectively"

The same dictionary lists "each" and "every" as synonyms.

Tom