Style: Hitchhikers, Babblers, and Flappers

Be careful of the following words: they gather other words around them, making your prose vague and rambling.

Stretchy words:

type unless it's The New York Times Large Type Cookbook, printed in large type. Don't say "It's The New York Times Large Type-type cookbook."

to be as in "They thought him to be a jerk."

different as in "many different"

separate as in "each separate"

cause as in "cause corruption" instead of "corrupt"

individual students for students

use as in "The use of alcoholic beverages is not allowed on the premises." (translation: "No Drinking Allowed.")

particular as in "This particular idea was good."

respect as in "The respect in which I find Amherst better than Williams is its location." (translation: "Amherst's location makes me prefer it to Williams.")

case as in "In the case of Amherst, I find it better than Williams," or "The nature of the case suggests that Lucy was bitten by Dracula." (translation: "The toothmarks on Lucy's neck show that Dracula has bitten her.")

Stretchy phrases:

With regard to...
As far as _____ is concerned...
In the matter of...
Needless to say...(don't say it, then)
Due to the fact that...
At this point in time...(a Watergator)
(evil) in nature
(good) in kind
in order to (go right to the infinitive)
is in the process of being (is being, or is)
It is _____ that _____
various and sundry
is able to (try "can")
in terms of
by way of
provides a vehicle to show or
uses the vehicle to reveal (vehicles go, not show; go right to "show" or "reveal")
It is my opinion that...(go ahead and say it)
indeed (often a weak verbal substitute for a rap on the table)
exhibits a tendency to (try "tends," or go to the main verb)
avail oneself of (try "use," "get," or "obtain")
make an attempt (try "try")

Dead adjectives and adverbs:

These words fill sentences with crackling static:

personal favorite
fundamental truth
true fact
necessary requirement
resounding commitment
gradually diminish
very (often useless as an intensifier; try a stronger adjective)
progressively improve
personal confession

Try to develop the habit of not taking words for granted. Listen to your words to find the strongest points of a sentence, then amplify those points by clearing away the crackle.

A hilarious passage from a letter to the editor of a local newspaper contains many of the redundancies listed above, plus a few malapropisms and gridlocks of word order. The writer is trying to say that he and other local officials are trying to clean up a polluted lake:

...Now that apologies have been exchanged on clearing this point, it seems appropriate to consider preening out the remainders of the, if you can pardon the expression, other ruffled feathers. This was with regard to a distinct and uncanny absence of any of my several comments on local efforts. 

These included the mention of a committee appointed at Town Meeting to be comprised of representatives from nearly every town board to further specifically facilitate the tackling of safety and pollution difficulties at the lake and a resounding commitment by Lake Association members to urge motor boat owners to, after using, pull their engines from the waters to diminish further oil drippings as well as a vow from the gateman to do his best to keep waters flowing over the dam to drain the lake.

Rough translation:

I want to clear up another point about local efforts to clean up pollution. At Town Meeting, representatives from local town boards formed a committee to investigate safety and pollution problems. Lake Association members voted to ask motor boat owners to pull engines from the waters when they dock their boats, and the gateman promised to keep waters flowing over the dam to drain the lake.

   Passive Voice
   Intransitive Verbs
   Too Many Little Words
   Adverbitis
   Hitchhikers, Babblers, and Jaw-Flappers
   Windy and Pretentious Language
   Balance and Consistency