Keep It Simple

“The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.” -Walt Whitman

I stumbled across an interesting definition online. See if you can figure out what word is being defined.

“…an anomalous juxtaposition of incongruous ideas for the sake of striking exposition or unexpected insight… ."

I love it! Seriously, doesn’t it seem that the author of this entry is a bit of a blowhard? Isn’t the purpose of a definition to clarify, not confuse? So here's this week’s advice: simplify.

I see too many business writers these days who are under the impression that stuffy, formal writing is more professional or more impressive than clear, simple writing. It’s not. And it further complicates things when those writers use complex words incorrectly or inappropriately because they don’t consider the meaning or implied meaning of those words. It isn't hard to replace a straightforward word with a complicated one, all you need is a thesaurus and an inferiority complex. Showing off your fancy vocabulary won’t make your readers think you’re smart. (But it might make them think you’re pretentious.)

Now I’m not saying that you should “dummy down” to your readers, or avoid the thesaurus entirely. What I am saying is that you should – c’mon, say it with me – write the way you speak! (I know, I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating.)

So go forth and attempt to utilize this indispensable recommendation in your impending documents and manuscripts. The receiver of your communiqué will be infinitely indebted to you and your contemplation of his emotional condition.

(Keep it simple. Your readers will thank you.)

Have a funny example to send to me? Please do! (And you get extra points if you can tell me what word is defined above.)

Write on!

Recently, while browsing in my happy place (the bookstore), I came across an interesting find. It’s a book titled, The Artful Nuance: A Refined Guide to Imperfectly Understood Words in the English Language by Rod L. Evans, Ph.D. What this little volume lacks in humor and creativity, it makes up for in fascinating language facts. It is chock-full of interesting distinctions between similar words and usages that have been lost over the years. Some are obvious to those of us who study the language, others are more obscure and trivial, but all are worthy of at least a moment of our consideration.

Now, I realize that I’m in a shrinking minority of people who actually care about this kind of stuff, but when I start thinking and learning about commonly confused words, I find it difficult to stop. For example, do you know there is a difference between a rascal and a scoundrel? A bush and a shrub? An obstacle and an obstruction? Most people don't, nor do they care.

So that begs the question, does it really matter? If 90% of the population couldn’t care less about the difference between avert and avoid, why should you? Well, because if you ever write or speak, you never know when some smart-ass word geek might be waiting to pounce on your misuse or misunderstanding of a word or phrase. And we can’t have that now, can we?

So here’s a quick test. Do you know the difference between:

Delay and postpone?
Intellect and Intelligence?
Partly and partially?
Naked and nude?
Young and youthful?
Number and numeral?
Glue and paste?
A harbor and a port?

No, I’m not going to give you the definitions for these pairs of words; you have to find those for yourself. But that’s a good thing, because that means you care more than 90% of readers and writers. And the next time someone calls you a “twit,” you can say, “No, you may think I’m a contemptible, insignificant twerp, but I am not a foolish twit. A twit would likely be too stupid or silly to know the difference between a twit and a twerp. That makes you the twit and me the twerp, you twit.”

Or something like that.

Write on!

Do you know what drives me crazy? Redundancies. It makes me nuts when people repeat themselves. I get irritated when writing is repetitive. I feel frustrated when people say the same thing over and over and over again.

OK, I think you get my point.

I’m a busy person. I don’t have time to wade through a murky muck of unnecessary words to figure out what message someone is trying to convey. I want to get to the point. Move forward. Carry on. Get on with it. (See, isn’t that irritating?)

This is a favorite topic in my presentations, because most people don’t even realize they’re committing this particular offense. When I show them how common it actually is, they feel enlightened.

The fact is, the pleonasm has become so ubiquitous in our language that we hardly notice it anymore. But if we stop and take the time to look at our writing and do just a little quality editing we can cut out unnecessary words, redundant phrases and repetitive ideas, and make our writing clearer and more enjoyable to read. So how do we get a grip on this issue? First, be aware.

In his wonderful book, Write Tight, William Brohaugh suggests that we, “Learn not just what words mean, but what they imply, what they embrace.” And that is a great place to start. For example, if you know that the definition of the word pleonasm is a redundant phrase or expression, then the phrase redundant pleonasm sounds pretty silly, doesn’t it?

Here is a short list of some of the more common redundant phrases that we exploit. See how many you’re guilty of using.

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Each and every (Use each or every, not both.)
And also (They mean the same thing. Use one or the other.)
Added bonus (All bonuses are added. That’s what makes them bonuses.)
Join together (How do you join something apart?)
Complete and total (As opposed to complete and partial?)
Surrounded on all sides (Can you be surrounded on only one side?)
Past experience (There’s no such thing as a future experience.)
Free gift (If you have to pay for it – it’s not a gift. It’s a product. Sheesh!)

And here are a few more that you might be familiar with:

advance warning
share together
close proximity
raise up
now pending
forward progress
but however
excess waste
absolutely essential
genuine sincerity
condense down
end result
identical match
I myself
repeat again
previous history
might possibly

You get the idea. And there are hundreds more where those came from. Have some favorites? Send them to me! I love getting your e-mails and comments about writing issues that confuse you or drive you crazy.

Until next week!

Write on!

Breaking the Rules

My proofreader and I have a running dialogue that we enjoy. It goes something like this:

Proofreader: “You started this sentence with and.”
Me: “I know.”
Proofreader: “You’re not supposed to start sentences with and.”
Me: “I know."
Proofreader: “But you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?”
Me: “Yup.”

OK, it’s possible that I enjoy it more than she does. My proofreader used to be a high school English teacher, so she gets the willies every time I bend or break the rules of grammar and style. And I do it quite a bit. (See there? I did it again.)

But, (You’re not supposed to start a sentence with but, either. But sometimes I do.) I know the rules, so that makes it OK for me to bend them. I know I’m not supposed to start my sentences with conjunctions, or end them in prepositions, but if I think it will improve the flow of my writing, I just might do it. That doesn’t mean I’m relieved of the responsibilities of following the basic rules of the English language -- I still need to spell my words correctly and capitalize proper nouns -- but if I choose to sacrifice some of the rules of style or grammar in certain situations, I give myself permission to do so.

(That also doesn't mean that I don't make mistakes. After many years of studying and writing, I still make errors and get stumped from time to time. Hard to believe, I know, but it happens.)

Our language is a dynamic beast. Its rules are constantly being revised and modified to adapt to modern usage; even many of the more “conventional” rules of English have become open to interpretation. We have all fallen victim to really bad writing that is grammatically correct and had the pleasure of reading really good writing that is technically incorrect. The bottom line is, which would you rather read?

In my presentations, I teach people to, “Write the way you speak.” This is known as “conversational” style and it is more acceptable today than it was even ten or fifteen years ago. However, we do need to consider what we are writing. If you are composing a term paper or a grant proposal, it’s usually best to avoid the casual vernacular and keep your writing a little more conservative. However, if you are writing – say, a blog – your readers will probably thank you for your casual tone.

Please remember, however, there is a big difference between bending the rules to make your writing more appealing to the reader and breaking the rules because you’re lazy or you don’t know any better. Because you can be sure that if you don't know the difference, your reader will.

So feel free to begin your sentences with and or but. But don’t forget to start them with a capital. And end them with a period.

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Here is this week’s lesson:

(No, you may not break this rule.)

A reader wrote in and brought up one of the most common grammatical confusions:

“When do I use that and when do I use which?”

This one trips up most of us sooner or later, so here’s the rule:
If a clause (a group of words with its own subject and verb) is essential to the point of the sentence, use that.

I ate the cookie that looked the least fattening.

If you can drop the clause and not lose the meaning of the sentence, use which.

The cookie, which looked innocent enough, was fattening.

Here’s another easy way to remember. Which begins non-essential clauses and goes inside commas.

The cookie, which I’m not supposed to eat because I’m on a diet, is chocolate.

Clauses that are essential to the meaning of the sentence have no commas and use that.

The diet that I’m on prohibits eating chocolate cookies.

Got it? Great!

Thanks for all of your comments and e-mails -- keep them coming!

Write on!

Elizabeth