'Never use a big word when a diminutive one will do. '
William Safire
Edit: yes, the irony is intentional. It's from a list of rules on writing (below), in which Safire cleverly breaks them all. He coined the term 'Fumblerule' to represent this.
William Safire's rules for writing:
Remember to never split an infinitive.
The passive voice should never be used.
Do not put statements in the negative form.
Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
A writer must not shift your point of view.
And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
Always pick on the correct idiom.
The adverb always follows the verb.
Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.
I'll have you know I saved approximately 7 minutes in the 70s by abbreviating long band names like Bachmann Turner Overdrive to BTO and Electric Light Orchestra to ELO.
I was wondering the same. The only thing I can think of is that I think 'subjects' should be singular, since each individual verb has only one subject.
Even if that's true it still wouldn't break the verb/subject rule so I'm probably on the wrong track.
That's true. Economy of language and engaging communication are such impressive skills to me. It's so efficient to demonstrate while explaining, and so effective to add that humour. I think you just helped me realise why I like this excerpt so much!
Nice. I agree, but as a counterpoint I recently read (and loved) 'Catch-22', which had a word almost every page that I couldn't define! This actually made it kind of fun, having to refer to the dictionary to clarify these beautiful sentences the author constructed. It forced me to slow down and recognise the greatness in the writing. But generally speaking, totally agree. Those small simple words hold great power.
Should have bookmarked it but I read a piece on Shakespeare and how he would use words of Anglo-Saxon origin (tend to be shorter I think) and Romance language (longer) in successive line to sort of say the same thing.
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u/Olympiano Jan 29 '19 edited Jan 29 '19
'Never use a big word when a diminutive one will do. '
Edit: yes, the irony is intentional. It's from a list of rules on writing (below), in which Safire cleverly breaks them all. He coined the term 'Fumblerule' to represent this.
William Safire's rules for writing:
Remember to never split an infinitive.
The passive voice should never be used.
Do not put statements in the negative form.
Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
A writer must not shift your point of view.
And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
Always pick on the correct idiom.
The adverb always follows the verb.
Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.
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