Garner’s Usage Tip of the Day: sufficient number of, a.

This phrase is verbose for “enough” — e.g.: o “As might be expected, he found a sufficient number of [read ‘enough’] legislators receptive to the state’s crying need to legalize betting.” O.K. Carter, “Races’ Old Patron Would Be Proud,” Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 1997, at 1. o “But the 1996 farm law requires the department to transfer sales to the private sector if a sufficient number of [read ‘enough’] agents were available in each state.” “Farm Law Passed in 1996 Required Change,” Chicago Trib., 25 May 1997, at 2. For information about the Language-Change Index click here. ——————– Quotation of the Day: “Once it is penetrated, [obscurity] is found to be a relatively simple matter. Obscurity is a very necessary impact to the listener and reader when anything really new is presented. The mind is conditioned to the past. Once a man has penetrated the obscure jungle he is likely to come out on the plateau where he has a much broader vision than he ever knew in the past.” William Carlos Williams (as quoted in Harvey Breit, The Writer Observed 101 (1956)).
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