Cohesion and Clarity
12- 22
“All men are really attracted b y the beauty of plain speech [but they] write in a florid style in imitation of this.”
— Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
There are several categories of wordiness that you can learn to recognize and minimize: unnecessary words, redundancies (unnecessary repetition in meaning), and metadiscourse (talking to readers about the content and suggesting how they should react). Look at the examples below of wordy expressions and how they can be shortened or cut. (A longer list can be found at the end of this chapter.)
Unnecessary words:
in regards to → regarding/about a greater number of → more is indicative of → indicates prior to → before for the purpose of → to
Redundancies:
an integral part of → part of prior experience → experience white in color → white decision-making process → decision-making
Metadiscourse:
It is important to note → [delete phrase] Interestingly → [delete phrase]
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