4 ms·
Avoid adjectives by specifying verbs. Possibly conflicting with Orwell's rule 2 and 5.
by allendoerfer 4y ago
Avoid adjectives by specifying verbs. Possibly conflicting with Orwell's rule 2 and 5.
- zabzonk 4y agoan example please?
- kierenj 4y ago"The car crashed into the wall" vs "The car quickly sped into the wall"? Crashed means you don't need to specify it was quick?
- miroljub 4y agoThat's one of the examples that could help you spot non-native speakers (me included). I would regularly say: "I ran home as fast as possible", while a native speaker would just use: "I rushed home". On the second reading, my first sentence may read: "That's one of the examples that give out non-native speakers".
- zabzonk 4y agoi would say simply "i ran home." if what you want to indicate is running using your legs. "rushed" could mean all sorts of things, but might also be good.
- zabzonk 4y agoi agree that "quickly sped" is horrible, but to set up the crash, you need to establish the speed of the car beforehand.
- JohnFen 4y agoI would say that "quickly sped" is bad merely because it's redundant. Nobody "slowly speeds".
- bookofjoe 4y agoOff topic but perhaps not completely since we're discussing clear written expression: "died in an car accident" is the default rendering of such an event in news reports, yet "died in a car crash" is more accurate. What makes a crash an "accident" by default? I have long believed this is powerful manipulation by the car and oil industries to lesson the impact — as it were — of the word "crash."
- tenebrisalietum 4y agoI think it's more the legal notion of intent that separates manslaughter versus murder. I would venture to say most car crashes that aren't attacks are not intentional, therefore they are accidental. Also if you experience a fatal accident in a car, it's likely enough to be a crash - so I would also venture to say most people understand "car accident" to strongly imply "crash".
- bookofjoe 4y agoAh, therein lies the rub: implying something softens the unconscious blow. Much science underlies meaning.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- runevault 4y agoNot really. The short word won't do if you need the adverb/adjective is required for the short one. I will say that advice is dangerous to some degree because using things like contrasting adjectives/adverbs can be an effective way to surprise the reader. But anytime you can just use a better verb/noun you probably should.
- JohnFen 4y agoThese rules, like all writing rules, are "meant to be broken". If you're a beginning writer, following them is a great idea. In part because you can't go too wrong with them, even if there are situations where breaking them is better. They are really expressions of deeper truths about the art. Even the greatest rule-breakers of great authors follow them more often than not. An inexperienced writer should follow them until they understand the deeper truth behind them. Once you know why the rule was worth stating, you know when the rule should not be applied.