Returned back? & fell down?
Mahesh Vijapurkar has sent in the following for this post:
When a passenger received items he left behind in an autorickshaw, was it given back to him or returned back?
According to a headline in the Daily News & Analysis (edition of October 16, 2010), it was 'returned back' which, to say the least, atrocious.
For, if the passenger had lent it to the autorickshaw driver, the in it would have been "given back". But when it was left behind, wittingly or otherwise, and the good guy traced the passenger and handed it over, it should have been "returned."
To say "returned back" is a widely used Indianism when speaking or writing English.
"Returned" is, dictionaries say, is to go or come back from a former position or place. It is a verb, used without an object. As a noun, it is going or coming back, sending or giving back.
Another usage, to drive home the point, is it is like saying someone "fell down". A person always falls downwards, not upwards. He can fall on something. Fall is a verb. It is the action of descending under the force of gravity, to drop down suddenly etc.
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