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I agree with almost all of what you're saying, but I still stand by the point that _simply_ advising someone to "ban those words" is not helpful, especially whe
by scubbo 4y ago
I agree with almost all of what you're saying, but I still stand by the point that _simply_ advising someone to "ban those words" is not helpful, especially when that guidance is delivered without the (correct and insightful!) description you gave of _why_ that jargon might be a "writing smell". A good writer can write meaningful, clear, useful communication which still uses buzzwords (they'd probably choose not to, but they _could_); a bad writer who is _only_ advised to avoid them will reproduce the same empty sentences with different words. Telling someone not to do something without telling them _why_ is the kind of thing you do to a child you're trying to keep safe, not something you do to an adult you're trying to train and...upskill ;)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- scubbo 4y agoMore concisely - there is correlation, but not necessarily causation. Someone who uses these phrases will _probably_ also be someone who doesn't put much thought into their communication; but merely removing those phrases will not automatically, in-and-of-itself, cause them to become a better communicator.
- munificent 4y agoI do think that even if they make no other changes, removing the jargon in favor of plain English will improve the quality of their writing. Maybe not as much as actually learning to reflect on what they're trying to say, but enough to be worth doing.