I like to look at esoteric aspects of language and sometimes be flippant with tongue-in-cheek\u00a0musings \u2013\u00a0as\u00a0per my previous posts.\u00a0But today, let\u2019s be practical.<\/p>\n
In George Orwell\u2019s 1946 essay \u201cPolitics and the English Language\u201d, he listed five rules for effective writing. Here\u2019s one of them (about which I have to constantly remind myself)\u00a0on superfluity in language:<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. <\/strong><\/p>\n When\u00a0writing, less is always more. Express the essence. Say it, don’t spray it.\u00a0\u00a0Communicate crisply. For example:<\/p>\n It\u2019s a clear indication = It\u2019s clear; On a daily basis = daily; The old classics = The classics; They merged together \/ as one = They merged. (You will have recognised that most of these are tautologies \/ redundant repetitions.)<\/p>\n Thomas Jefferson stated the rule succinctly over 200 years ago, \u201cThe most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.\u201d <\/em>But my favourite quote on the subject is\u00a0from Dr Seuss, \u201cSo the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The only positive thing about verbosity \u2013\u00a0and it’s\u00a0scant consolation however \u2013\u00a0is that it keeps us editors in business. But I’d prefer a world without editors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I like to look at esoteric aspects of language and sometimes be flippant with tongue-in-cheek\u00a0musings \u2013\u00a0as\u00a0per my previous posts.\u00a0But today, let\u2019s be practical. In George Orwell\u2019s 1946 essay \u201cPolitics and the English Language\u201d, he listed five rules for effective writing. … Continue reading