06.16.08
Pre-advance pre-payment, pre-tty please
The Write Tight
That’s from the English Fail blog, which is a funny (and distressing) collection of language use subject to ridicule. As one of the commenters noted: “Prepaying in advance seems easy enough. It’s prepaying in arrears that’s tricky.”
That very line of thinking is the foundation of the “As opposed to test” I recommend in Write Tight, and it leads to a couple of recent personal observations in my visit to Planet Redundancy, primarily on the radio:
- “He died of a sudden heart attack.” As opposed to a well-planned heart attack? Attacks of any stripe may have gradual underpinnings, but the attacks themselves occur suddenly. The word attack implies abruptness. He died of a heart attack would have been just as clear.
- “Are you struggling with too much credit card debt?” As opposed to struggling with too little credit card debt? “Are you struggling with credit card debt?” would have sufficed, as struggle clearly communicates that a problem is being fought, particularly since “credit card debt” also signals a problem.
- “Fine-toothed comb.” A very young comb, as it apparently is teething (and doing a good job of it, as well). Though at least one dictionary accepts “toothed” as an alternative, I contend that “fine-tooth” is not only shorter (yes, just slightly), but also less subject to sad “teething” jokes in blogs.
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