Tag: redundancy

Filed under:

Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: Considering the Case for Verbosity

September 8, 2015 by Wilf Popoff | 2 Comments on Wasted Words: Considering the Case for Verbosity

Is it necessary to waste a word or two to command attention? Are people apt to disregard phrases not couched in officialese? I shudder at the very notion, but former co-worker Cam Fuller, who fulminates against misusage as The Word Nerd, got me thinking. A recent lecture reveals he is currently contemplating a vacation. After […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: The Elements and Style

December 2, 2014 by Wilf Popoff | 1 Comment on Wasted Words: The Elements and Style

It’s the time of year when heeding weather reports is a good idea: setting out with meagre insulation can be foolhardy. (News flash: “Hypothermia Blamed When Editor Vanishes.”) I glean data from all sources and sally forth properly kitted, but meteorological claptrap can be irritating. A local CBC station announces that temperatures overnight will go […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: The Tragedies and Farces of History

December 10, 2013 by Wilf Popoff | 3 Comments on Wasted Words: The Tragedies and Farces of History

  “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce, third as more repetition.” I know Marx would have added that last part had he been on the ball. In the event, he was so fixated on dialectical something or other that he didn’t get around to it. And then there was the business about workers […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Wilf Popoff

WASTED WORDS: Squandering Words on Money

October 9, 2013 by Wilf Popoff | 3 Comments on WASTED WORDS: Squandering Words on Money

The love of money is not only the root of all evil; it is also the root of ghastly copy. I find it particularly ironic that word economy has only a fleeting acquaintance with commerce. Consider the grating and ubiquitous tautology, expensive price, as in, “The house with a river view comes at a more […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Wilf Popoff

WASTED WORDS: Stalking Verbosity

July 30, 2013 by Wilf Popoff | 4 Comments on WASTED WORDS: Stalking Verbosity

Verbosity is the technical term for Wasted Words and it reflects the ongoing motif of this blog series. Verbosity noun the fact or quality of using more words than needed; wordiness. (Oxford Online Dictionary) Not much here to make a writer proud. I admit to being verbosity-obsessed: while writing I’m terrorized by the possibility I’ll […]

Read more »

Tagged