6 ms·
"If it is possible to cut a word, cut it."
by 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.