"My own" vs "My own personal"
And because I was the person to clean up all the glass bottles, then I would find the wads of cash on the floor. So it was good. I’d get my wages, I’d get tips, and then I would get my own personal tips from finding money on the floor.
From (http://www.elllo.org/english/1301/T1350-amy-money-floor.htm)
The speaker is talking about her experience working on the floor of a nightclub.
I think "own" and "personal" are pretty much the same. Is "personal" redundant here? How does it contribute to the meaning of the sentence?
Solution 1:
Agreeing with and adding to Janus Bahs Jacquet's explanation in comments to the original post.
I’d get my wages, I’d get tips, and then I would get my own personal tips from finding money on the floor.
The sentence is a list of the benefits of working at the club.
- Wages
- Tips
- My own personal tips
She could have said "my personal tips" or "my own tips" and the meaning would be understood. The repetition of synonyms adds emphasis and (as Janus Bahs Jacquet points out in comments to the original post) communicates that these tips don't have to be shared. The words "own" and "personal" are repetitive but they are not redundant.
Redundant
not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous English Oxford Living Dictionaries
Repetition
the action of repeating something that has already been said or written English Oxford Living Dictionaries
Solution 2:
Is "personal" redundant here? No. This word signals that the meaning of "tips" is now going to be somewhat different.
How does it contribute to the meaning of the sentence? It signals that we are going to another level. The first level of payment is the formal wages, the second is the tips, and the now the new level is the findings while doing the (perhaps yucky) cleaning.
Note that the general tips may be coming from the tip jar, which may be apportioned out equally, or according to some scheme, such as "The fast and nasty get the most."