Olympics - In Excess of?

[RoxyNotFoxy]

"She needs to throw in excess of 60 metres".

No, she doesn't. The word "excess" has no praiseworthy meaning in English. It always means "more than is desirable", as in:

"He drinks to excess"
"The road to excess leads to wisdom"
"Excessive use of the clutch pedal"
"Wipe off the excess with an oily rag"

Etc.

Not only would it be correct (if we're being pedantic) to say "she needs to throw more than 60 metres", or "over 60 metres", it is also more economical, in the sense of being quicker when you say it out loud, and taking less space on the page when you write it down.

[MaryAnnSingleton]

I think you've sorted this one out yourself !

[RoxyNotFoxy]

Thank you, but I don't know why I said "oily rag". Surely it should be "clean rag". What was I thinking?

[MaryAnnSingleton]

!