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Read Ebook: How to Write Clearly: Rules and Exercises on English Composition by Abbott Edwin Abbott
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arentheses. But see 55.
CLEARNESS AND FORCE.
WORDS.
This rule also forbids the slovenly use of "nice," "awfully," "delicious," "glorious," &c. See .
Here "inexhaustible" is inconsistent with what follows. The words "unprecedented," "incalculable," "very," and "stupendous" are often used in the same loose way.
"Partook of" implies sharing, and is incorrect as well as lengthy.
So, do not use "apex" for "top," "species" for "kind," "individual" for "man," "assist" for "help," &c.
Repeat the noun: "Among these passions and affections are fear &c."
The prospective "it," if productive of ambiguity, can often be omitted by using the infinitive as a subject: "To give indiscriminately is a crime."
In short sentences the absurdity is evident, but in long sentences it is less evident, and very common.
In philosophy and science, where the language ought very often to be inclusive and brief, general and not particular terms must be used.
Write "notwithstanding that he wrote and affected &c."
Of course there are some subjects for which Metaphor should not be used. See and .
The following is attributed to Sir Boyle Roche: "Mr. Speaker, I smell a rat, I see him brewing in the air; but, mark me, I shall yet nip him in the bud."
"He was the father of Chemistry, and brother to the Earl of Cork."
"He was a very thunderbolt of war, And was lieutenant to the Earl of Mar."
ORDER OF WORDS IN A SENTENCE.
Contrast "No one ever names Wentworth without thinking of &c." with "But Wentworth,--who ever names him without thinking of those harsh dark features, ennobled by their expression into more than the majesty of an antique Jupiter?"
Where the same subject stands first in several consecutive sentences, it rises in emphasis, and need not be removed from the beginning, even though unusual emphasis be required:
Even where there is no antithesis the inversion is not uncommon:
The same author alters, "The praise of judgment Virgil has justly contested with him, but his invention remains yet unrivalled," into "Virgil has justly contested with him the praise of judgment, but no one has yet rivalled his invention"--an alteration which does not seem to emphasize sufficiently the antithesis between what had been 'contested,' on the one hand, and what remained as yet 'unrivalled' on the other.
More judiciously Professor Bain alters, "He that tells a lie is not sensible how great a task he undertakes; for he must be forced to invent twenty more to maintain one," into "for, to maintain one, he must invent twenty more," putting the emphatic words in their emphatic place, at the end.
The following is ambiguous:
The best rule is to avoid placing "only" between two emphatic words, and to avoid using "only" where "alone" can be used instead.
In strictness perhaps the three following sentences:
He did no more than beat, did not kill, three.
He beat no more than three.
He beat three, and that was all he did.
The remedy is to avoid placing "at all events" between two emphatic words.
As an example of the misplacing of an adverbial adjunct, take "From abroad he received most favourable reports, but in the City he heard that a panic had broken out on the Exchange, and that the funds were fast falling." This ought to mean that the "hearing," and not that the "breaking out of the panic," took place in the City.
It is better to adhere, in most cases, to Rule 25, which may be called the Rule of Proximity. The Rule of Emphasis, of which an instance was given in the last paragraph, is sometimes misleading. A distinction might be drawn by punctuating thus:
"David the father of Solomon, who slew Goliath." "David, the father of Solomon who built the Temple." But the propriety of omitting a comma in each case is questionable, and it is better to write so as not to be at the mercy of commas.
There is an excessive complication in the following:--"It cannot, at all events, if the consideration demanded by a subject of such importance from any one professing to be a philosopher, be given, be denied that &c."
Take as an example:
"He replied that he wished to help them, and intended to make preparations accordingly."
This ought not to be used to mean:
"He replied ..., and he intended."
"He replied that he wished ..., and that he intended."
, though theoretically free from ambiguity, is practically ambiguous, owing to a loose habit of repeating the subject unnecessarily. It would be better to insert a conjunctional word or a full stop between the two statements. Thus:
Where there is any danger of ambiguity, use or in preference to or .
"He said that he wished to take his friend with him,
From the three different versions it will be perceived that this ambiguity must be met by using "that" for "to," which allows us to repeat an auxiliary verb , and by inserting conjunctions. As to insertions of conjunctions, see .
"Mr. Pym was looked upon as the man of greatest experience in parliaments, | where he had served very long, | and was always a man of business, | being an officer in the Exchequer, | and of a good reputation generally, | though known to be inclined to the Puritan party; yet not of those furious resolutions against the Church as the other leading men were, | and wholly devoted to the Earl of Bedford,--who had nothing of that spirit."
The foregoing sentence might have ended at any one of the eight points marked above. When suspended it becomes:--
"Mr. Pym, owing to his long service in Parliament in the Exchequer, was esteemed above all others for his Parliamentary experience and for his knowledge of business. He had also a good reputation generally; for, though openly favouring the Puritan party, he was closely devoted to the Earl of Bedford, and, like the Earl, had none of the fanatical spirit manifested against the Church by the other leading men."
Write "not, as some say, wastefulness, but industry, self-dependence, and frugality."
Everyone will see the flatness of "Revenge thy father's most unnatural murder, if thou didst ever love him," as compared with the suspense that forces an expression of agony from Hamlet in--
The introduction of a clause with "if" or "though" in the middle of a sentence may often cause ambiguity, especially when a great part of the sentence depends on "that:" "His enemies answered that, for the sake of preserving the public peace, they would keep quiet for the present, though he declared that cowardice was the motive of the delay, and that for this reason they would put off the trial to a more convenient season." See .
Of course we might sometimes write "He was deserted and forced &c." But this cannot be done where the "desertion" is to be not stated but implied.
"He professes to be helping the nation, which in reality is suffering from his flattery, and will not permit anyone else to give it advice."
"When we look back upon the havoc that two hundred years have made in the ranks of our national authors--and, above all, we refer their rapid disappearance to the quick succession of new competitors--we cannot help being dismayed at the prospect that lies before the writers of the present day."
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