poke and prod

Please   Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:05 am GMT
"He could not afford to be laid up in a hospital with doctors poking and prodding him."
Isn't it sort of redundant to use both 'poking' and 'prodding'?
Please   Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:13 am GMT
"His discomfort and embarrassment was obvious".
'Was' is the wrong word here. Right?
CID   Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:34 am GMT
to "poke and prod" is a set expression in English

it isn't redundant
cr   Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:37 am GMT
They also mean slightly different things. For example, if you poked someone with a neee it would be quite different than prodding them.