It seems logical that "surrounded on three sides" is redundant because a peninsula only has three sides. I'm going to go with the following revision: The Keweenaw Peninsula is surrounded by Lake Superior. Thanks again for the advice. Carol --- On Fri, 9/30/11, R. Michael Medley (ck) <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: R. Michael Medley (ck) <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Word usage problem? To: [log in to unmask] Date: Friday, September 30, 2011, 8:23 AM Notice, however, that we can't say that Florida (also a peninsula) is surrounded on three sides by ONE body of water! We might say 1. "Florida is a peninsula bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico." 2. "Florida is bounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico." 3. PROBABLY NOT: "Florida is a peninsula bounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico." One wonders if students would be tempted to write number 3 as a way of "displaying" their knowledge of geographical terms. In fact, in earth science or social studies, they may have learned the definition of peninsula as "a body of land bounded by water on three sides." As others have pointed out, the issue in the original sentence may be one of redundancy, not an unforgivable sort of redundancy. If I wanted students to reduce wordiness or display economy of language, this is not the sort of problem I would first turn my attention to. The example, however, does pose a critical thinking exercise that raises some awareness of economy: why use 4 words when 1 will do? R. Michael Medley, Ph.D. Professor of English Eastern Mennonite University To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/