victory.
The phrase *”win a victory: is a common but venial redundancy — e.g.:
o “The United Auto Workers has won a victory in Northeast Ohio in its bid to unionize seat plants owned by Johnson Controls Inc. [read ‘won in its bid to unionize seat plants in Northeast Ohio owned by Johnson Controls Inc.’]” Brian Frasier, “UAW Wins Over Oberlin Plant,” Crain’s Cleveland Bus., 24 June 1996, at 9.
o “Female athletes won a victory [read ‘won’ or ‘were victorious’ or ‘saw victory’] Monday in the Supreme Court.” Woody Anderson, “Top Court Upholds Sex-Parity Rule for College Sports,” Hartford Courant, 22 Apr. 1997, at A1.
A simple solution is to use ‘score’ or ‘gain’ instead of ‘win.’
*Invariably inferior form.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “The habit of compulsive, premature editing doesn’t just make writing hard. It also makes writing dead. Your voice is damped out by all the interruptions, changes, and hesitations between the consciousness and the page.” Peter Elbow, “Freewriting,” in About Language 5, 7 (William H. Roberts & Gregoire Turgeon eds., 2d ed. 1989).
