"There is little doubt that most of the new features that are intensely disliked by linguistic conservatives will triumph in the end.
But the language will not bleed to death.
Nor will it seem in any way distorted once the old observances have been forgotten."
Robert Burchfield (Edited the Oxford English Dictionary for 30 years)
This is my reminder to lighten up, stay fluid, and remember words are tools for communication.
There’s little value shackling your writing to archaic rules.
For example, a lot of my smart colleagues use the word ‘less’ when they should use the word ‘fewer’.
👎 “There are less people in the kitchen”
👍 “There are fewer people in the kitchen”
And even if I wince when I hear it—like a flat note in a song—I understand what they mean. So, I should let it slip. I only don’t because, hey, why waste a perfectly good opportunity to tease them 🤷♂️
This is what you should concern yourself with. Do the words—and the order you put them in—transfer that idea, as simply, warmly, and economically as possible, to the mind of another?
Bloated phrases you can cut with your editing knife:
along the lines of = like
referred to as = called
on numerous occasions = often
as a consequence of = because
in the absence of = without
afford an opportunity = allow
in conjunction with = with
for the purpose of = for
I’ve found the way to spot these fatties is to keep gunning for economy. Usually that means asking ‘can I say this in l̶e̶s̶s̶ fewer words?’
Have a great week.
Control words and make them work for you.
John