Hi, Mark!  Awhile ago you wrote in a message to Alexander Koryagin:   
      
    AK>  I always thought that every word means something. ;-)   
      
      
              Ideally, yes... but I understand George Bernard Shaw apologized for   
   writing a long letter on some occasion when (as he put it) he didn't have time   
   to write a shorter one.  I can also see that if we're talking about having the   
   Browns for dinner we may need to make it clear we don't plan to eat them.  :-)   
      
      
      
    AK>  Probably I could also say "invite her up for tea" or   
    AK>  "invite her down for tea" or "invite her in for tea" ;=)   
      
    ml>  this is true... english is a ""bit"" more verbose   
    ml>  than other languages...   
      
      
              Depends on what other languages one is comparing it to, I think.  I   
   gather you speak at least one or two I don't.  As a Canadian, OTOH, I see many   
   things written in both English & French where the French version occupies more   
   bandwidth because the words are often longer & there are more of them....  ;-)   
      
      
      
    ml>  the additional word, in this case, clarifies things a   
    ml>  little more than the bare phrase... you could clarify   
    ml>  even more by saying   
      
    ml>  invite her for tea on sunday.   
    ml>  invite her over to the club for tea.   
    ml>  invite her to the club for tea on sunday.   
      
    ml>  or similar... the additions just clarify more in most   
    ml>  cases that i can think of...   
      
      
              Yes, I can see inviting a person up or down if they live on another   
   floor of the same building or someone has to climb a hill.  I can also see how   
   if the club is like a second home to someone they might say "over to the club"   
   ... which in most such cases I know is not very far away from where they live.   
   And if a friend appeared unexpectedly at my door, I might invite them to "come   
   (on) in".  While some of the adverbs in the above examples may not be strictly   
   necessary they add clues about the geography &/or the level of formality.  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)