Cash

[juliely]

On the radio the other day someone was reporting on a robbery and stated that ;150 pounds worth of case was stolen.
Is it me or does that sound really stupid and unnecessary?

Surely just �150 cash was stolen would have been better?
Perhaps some reporters are like politicians, get paid for the amount of words they use, or so it seems to me.

[jno]

I think you're right. The only other possibility I can think of is that the cash wasn't in sterling (maybe euros or dollars) and they were giving the sterling equivalent.

[juliely]

No, it was my local radio in Kent.

[joko]

I have also heard 'high rate of speed' instead of 'high speed'

I think it may be the influence of america as many of them seem to do this a lot.

It's a bit like lawyer over speak - "The defendant was proceeding along the carriageway in a southernly direction when the motor ve-hicle..."

[jno]

lot of euros in Kent, what with Eurostar. But I think you're right, it's just unnecessary verbiage. People shouldn't write like that, but sometimes they talk like that, adding extra words, to give themselves an extra split second to frame their next sentence mentally.

[Loosehead]

Yeah and what about all those free gifts I mean what other sort of gift is there?

[rabet]

'new innovation' and 'reversing back'; and what about 'growing smaller'? How daft is that? And 'he noticed an imperceptible movement'.

[caro_]

How about "almost unique" and "near fatal" as in

He was almost unique in that he had a near fatal road traffic accident.

Does that mean he had a near death experience? Come to think of it what accidents on roads don't involve traffic?

[flaming]

I do think radio news can be excused. Without specifying worth, listeners would hear 150 of cash was stolen' not hearing the � sign. Well, it would be a strong thief, but unless the 'worth' is inserted, it could mean 'weight'.

[flaming]

Sorry, I meant listeners would her '150 pounds of cash was stolen'. We don't all think in kilos if weight is being referred to.

[dzug]

'Cash' does seem to have developed a new meaning recently.

In the entrance to a local supermarket (and I assume it's common) there is a machine that has a notice 'turn your coins into cash!!!'

You tip your coins into it, it counts them, deducts a small fee and prints a voucher to spend in the supermarket.

Seems a bit back to front to me.