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Usage - 17-06-2004, 12:22 AM

Remember the advice of some famous people:


"Brevity is the soul of wit." - W. Shakespeare


"Be brief." - G. Grabbers

OK, I admit it, sometimes big words and long phrases impress the heck out of your boss or your friends. On rare occasions, throw in a "synergism" here and a "paradigm" there, but (why is there always a 'but'?!), remember, you can easily seed your writing with "weeds" and start to sound pretentious. (I speak from experience.) So when your garden of words (that's garden of words, Bill, not garden of woods) becomes overgrown, try pruning some of your flowery language.



"Gee, Bill, how did you manage not to mix your metaphors?"

"It just shows what a good editor can do for you. "


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are examples of pretentious words or phrases and their simple counterparts:
Instead of: in connection with Use: about Instead of: be in a position to Use: be able to
Instead of: as a result of Use: because of Instead of: in the event that Use: if
Instead of: for the reason that Use: because Instead of: make a decision Use: decide
Instead of: due to the fact that Use: since Instead of: in order to Use: to
Instead of: in the month of May Use: in May Instead of: by means of Use: by
Instead of: it is our understanding Use: we know Instead of: with respect to Use: about
Instead of: in view of the fact that Use: since Instead of: for the purpose of Use: for
Instead of: at this point in time Use: now Instead of: held a meeting Use: met
Instead of: during the time that Use: while / when Instead of: utilize Use: use
   
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Re: Usage
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Re: Usage - 17-06-2004, 11:56 AM

hey pearl....
i too love the laconic style....
ernest hemingway was the first literary figure to use this method...
n later came many poor imitations....

here's smthg that's a classic eg of his style....

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Ernest Hemingway: To die. In the rain.


I've got better things to do than argue with every wrong-headed crackpot with an ignorant opinion! I say, either agree with me or take a hike! I'm right, period! END OF DISCUSSION!
   
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Re: Usage - 17-06-2004, 12:14 PM

A new thread for this stuff ?? comeon post it in some other relevant thread ppl !!
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Re: Usage - 21-10-2004, 03:03 PM

Please answer these! I don't have the answers. Just wanna check if iI got them right


1. The mayor remained ..... in her commitment to ..... to the rise of unemployment among her constituents.
(1) firm, uphold (2) wavering, identify (3) steadfast, stem (4) uncertain, staunch
(5) alone, approach

2. Concerned for his children’s safety, the father tried to ..... in them a ..... attitude toward strangers.
(1) obviate, hospitable (2) ingratiate, assiduous (3) insinuate, salubrious (4) assimilate, benevolent
(5) inculcate, wary

3. Her ..... smile ..... all those who saw it.
(1) devastating, replenished (2) penultimate, inured (3) radiant, obliged (4) sunny, tamed (5) bright, dazzled

4. Most young children are highly conformist and will ..... a classmate whose appearance or manners are ..... .
(1) welcome, bizarre (2) shun, conventional (3) emulate, unusual (4) ostracize, different
(5) deride, ordinary

5. They acted in concert, each ..... for a(n) ..... of the plot.
(1) reliable, source (2) responsible, element (3) unavailable, section (4) appoint, article
(5) agreeable, felony

6. (A) Half a million soldiers were amassed on the western border in strike-ready formations.
(B) As the armed forces of the two countries went eyeball to eyeball, there were very tense and dangerous 10
months though to many from the outside it seemed like empty posturing.
(C) After the December 13 attack on Parliament, the Indian armed forces undertook the largest mobilisation since
the 1971 Indo-Pak War.
(D) The high-alert lasted for 10 months–the longest ever.
(1) BCAD (2) ABCD (3) BACD (4) CABD

7. (A) War has always been a serious business but, as this exclusive account reveals, what used to be a national
prerogative is now vulnerable to many external pressures.
(B) Assistant Editor Shishir Gupta (India Today) has produced a gripping story of how an Indo-Pak war was narrowly
averted, with the United States playing a major role.
(C) Gupta says, “Everyone in the know is very cagey talking about specific D-days, but war was imminent; military
planners were prepared for it, those in operations didn’t go home for days, the troops were ready.”
(D) Today when nuclear neighbours come close to war the world quite justifiably gets jittery.
(1) BCAD (2) BCDA (3) DBCA (4) ABCD

8. (A) “It is as if the Orissa coast has become a big graveyard for sea turtles,” says Mohanty.
(B) As the carcass count mounts, turtle lovers can only lament.
(C) Either way, the turtle court death.
(D) After journeying from the distant Indian Ocean to bolster their numbers, the reptiles have their throats mangled
by propeller blades of the trawlers that angle illegally near the state’s shores or are suffocated in fishing nets.
(1) ABDC (2) BDAC (3) ABCD (5) BADC

9. (A) Worldwide, most psychiatrists accept Durkheim’s hypothesis that pressures of modern living, and not just a
person’s genetic predisposition, are behind the dramatic rise in suicides.
(B) Few realities are as chillingly compelling and as morbidly intriguing as suicide.
(C) This ultimate desperation undermines, overwhelms, outwits and devastates not just the people who commit it
but also the people who are left behind.
(D) “The cause is essentially social,” said French sociologist Emile Durkheim in his 1897 seminal analysis of suicide.
(1) ABDC (2) BDCA (3) BCDA (4) BADC

10. (A) According to her, the only discordant note is the danger posed by communal histories that are rearing their
heads in a society increasingly polarised along communal lines.
(B) Then she presents us with a pleasant picture of a gentle ironing out of earlier distortions and imbalances, a
broadening of horizons brought about by the fruitful dialogue between history and the other social sciences.
(C) She highlights the important contribution made by Marxist historians and the debates generated by them.
(D) Thapar’s discussion of the historiography of ancient India focuses on a critique of the Orientalist and nationalist
misreadings of India’s ancient past.
(1) DACB (2) DCBA (3) DACB (4) DBAC

Regards,
Pearl.
   
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Re: Usage - 21-10-2004, 04:01 PM

Below r my answers. Do post ur answers so that i can cross check my answers.


1 - Option 3 (Steadfast, stem) [I think there is an extra 'to' after the second blank]
2 - Option 5 (Inculcate, wary)
3 - Option 5 (Bright, dazzled)
4 - Option 4 (Ostracize, different)
5 - Option 2 (Responsible, element)
6 - Option 4 (CABD)
7 - Option 3 (DBCA) [The link here is BCA. Now it boils down to where we put D. So option 1 or 3. I would go with 3, as D seems a better opening statement]
8 - Option 1 (ABDC) [DC is clearly the link. 'A' seems a better opening statement]
9 - Option 3 (BCDA)
10 - Option 2 (DCBA)
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Re: Usage - 26-10-2004, 07:59 AM

7) I think BCAD is a better option because D states "Today when nuclear neighbours come close to war the world quite justifiably gets jittery." It is next in sequence to A
which talks about the views abt war in yesteryears.

The word 'justifiably' is a good indicator. It implies D canot be the first sentence.
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