Working On Me

Earlier this week, I wrte about the pointlessness of the phrase 'going forward'. At the other end of the tenses spectrum, we have a similarly redundant phrase: in the past. Here are some examples of its usage in the business environment:

• In the past we used to give away promotional goods
• No-one wanted to buy our advertising in the past
• In the past, we've held monthly meetings

Now, how do these sentences sound when you remove 'in the past' from each of them? See if you can spot any change in meaning:

• We used to give away promotional goods
• No-one wanted to buy our advertising
• We've held monthly meetings

So did you find any? No, neither did I. Let's all stop using this silly phrase.