avoiding ‘of our own’

Gymnatics coach Bela Karolyi can’t stop complaining about the allegedly under-age Chinese gymnasts.

“This is a joke,” he said. “We are people who have had children of our own, so we know what a 16-year-old should look like. They should not look like they are 7 and maybe still in diapers.”

In typical Bela-speak, he avoided the simple noun parents and opted for “people who have had children of our own.” The silliest part of this clause is the prepositional phrase “of our own.” If you have had children (biological or adopted), they are your own.

This prepositional phrase rarely adds meaning; use it sparingly.