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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 II that..." | Table II 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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