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Redundant words
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DON'T |
DO |
| "He is a man who..." | He... |
| "Owing to the fact that..." |
Since... |
| "...has been engaged in the study of..." |
...has studied... |
| "It will be seen from a consideration of the
data in Table 2 that..." | Table 2 shows... |
| "At an earlier date..." |
Previously,... |
| "In the modern period of time,..." |
Currently,... |
| "It is interesting to note that..." |
OMIT |
| "Typical results are shown..." |
OMIT |
| "It has long been known..." |
OMIT |
| "(please see Figure One)" |
(Figure 1) | |
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Additional Reading
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Reckless writers and slipshod speakers use
many words where few would do. Yet for all the words, their expression is but impoverished;
more words do not necessarily signify more meaning. Life
is measured by its meaning, and a good deal of that meaning is
inherent in the words we use. If so many of our words are
superfluous -- and thus do not signify -- so much of our
life is, ineluctably, meaningless.
Reprinted with the permission of
The Vocabula Review
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| "advance planning" |
"at this time" |
| "due to the fact that" |
"consensus of opinion" |
| "(the) reason (why) is because" |
"first and foremost" |
| "free gift" |
"in spite of the fact that" |
| "period of time" |
"in terms of" |
| "past experience" |
"on a ... basis" |
| "refer back" |
"until such time as." |
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Avoid needless repetition
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Of the many sounds that annoy me, the sound of someone needlessly
sounding his horn annoys me most.
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Click
here for a humorous example for academic writers |
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