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> If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Does anybody know if this has been (properly) studied? It's not quite so obvious that succinctness is
by conistonwater 10y ago
> If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Does anybody know if this has been (properly) studied? It's not quite so obvious that succinctness is good for readability and comprehension, and I think it could also go the other way.
- marcoperaza 10y agoThat's what the last rule is for: (vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
- conistonwater 10y agoThat bit is something of a cop-out, because of how open-ended it is. One feels entitled to an explanation as to exactly when those rules should be broken, or what would qualify as barbarous. And why, exactly, do the previous bits of advice not mention their conditions of applicability? Bear in mind, it is quite possible that Orwell meant what he said (in the direct, plain meaning of it), and got it wrong. Maybe it's a pet peeve, but I loathe advice of the form "do just the right amount of a thing" that doesn't say how one is to determine the "right" amount. After all, if that was the easier part of following the advice, one wouldn't need the advice in the first place.
- marcoperaza 10y agoWriting is art. You will not find many good rules of the kind you're looking for.
- dllthomas 10y ago"If it is possible to cut a word, cut it."
- conistonwater 10y agoIsn't that worse than the original? Sorry, I don't understand your point.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- Chinjut 10y agoThe point is presumably that the original, despite sounding wise, is actually bad advice which even Orwell didn't actually follow.
- davnicwil 10y agoOrwell was British. The use of 'to cut (a thing)' to mean 'to remove' comes from the American English vernacular. Though the lines are more blurred today, I suspect at the time this was written it would have been extremely odd for Orwell to use that phrasing. In British English, there's really not a shorter way to put that!
- dllthomas 10y agoInteresting. Doesn't argue against dropping the "always", though.
- c22 10y agoIf possible, cut a word.
- js8 10y agoPossibly cut words.
- tim333 10y agoCut words. (I think the if possible bit is kind of redundant).
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- johnnyhillbilly 10y agoCleave it in twain?
- erikbye 10y agoCommentary on HN is starting to resemble Reddit. It’s not a good thing.
- rat87 10y agoBrevity is the soul of wit
- mynameishere 10y agoNot really. I don't think style can be reduced to a single rule, and that's pretty well understood. http://i.somethingawful.com/u/garbageday/2013/goldmine/4word_blurbs/brevityiswit.JPG http://i.somethingawful.com/u/garbageday/2013/goldmine/4word...
- Jach 10y agoOmit needless words. (Strunk & White)
- dogecoinbase 10y agoJust "omit words" should be sufficient.
- johnnyhillbilly 10y agoIt isn't.
- michaelt 10y agoOmit words like caveman and meaning communicated but writing guide sales bad.
- dllthomas 10y agoYeah, obviously you shouldn't omit a word if it's needed.
- dogecoinbase 10y agoWell, I'm glad someone got it.
- kldaace 10y agoI don't know whether this has been or can be studied formally, but anecdotally I think modern writing often suffers from excess verbiage. Essays sometimes go on for a long time without saying much, and this can cause a lot of frustration for readers. I'm sure many of you have felt this frustration when reading political opinion pieces. A fun exercise that illustrates Orwell's point, when reading a sentence, see how much you can reduce it without losing its original meaning. For instance, I frame your question as follows: "Do we know if this has been studied? It's not obvious that succinctness is better for readability and comprehension. It might be worse." You can think of this as the writer's version of code golf.
- carlob 10y ago>but anecdotally I think modern writing often suffers from excess verbiage. I love how meta this sentence is :)
- kldaace 10y ago;)
- denzil_correa 10y ago> anecdotally I think modern writing often suffers from excess verbiage. Ironical, given that verbiage itself means excess.
- anilgulecha 10y agoOn a tangential note, most of pg's articles are succinct and to the point. I feel he pays special attention to using the minimum number of words to express an idea.. one of the reasons I enjoy reading his essays.
- TheOtherHobbes 10y agoPG is an exceptionally good essayist. The content is.. often very debatable. But I think the style and presentation are so good they should be studied in schools.
- jhbadger 10y agoThere's actually been a fair bit of studies of why languages often include redundancies -- which isn't exactly the same thing, but related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundancy_(linguistics)