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Word Choice
Prefer the
familiar word to the far-fetched.
Prefer the
concrete word to the abstraction.
Prefer the
single word to the circumlocution.
Prefer the
short word to the long.
Prefer the
Saxon word to the Romance.
H.W. Fowler
and F.G. Fowler, The King’s English
Quoted in
John R. Trimble, Writing with Style 183 (2d ed. 2000).
Remember what Fowler said. And remember what George Bernard Shaw
said:
‘‘In literature the ambition of a novice is to
acquire the literary language; the struggle of
the adept is get rid of it.’’
Plain word
choices with an instead of…consider list.
Prof.
Eugene Volokh, UCLA Law School
Some common
clunkers, and their simpler, more readable replacements. The
replacements aren't always perfect synonyms, but 90% of the time
they're better than the original.
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