were many involved with Truman’s decision to use the atomic issues bomb, and some historians have with his decision.”) Stop talking issues about and get to the point. issues Literally. Beware of the word It’s commonly misused, literally. and you almost never need it in historical prose. means actu- Literally ally, factually, exactly, directly, without metaphor. The careful writer would never say, swamped Landon in the election literally “Roosevelt of 1936.” One imagines Roosevelt (in his wheelchair no less!) dumping the hapless Landon off a pier in the Everglades on election night. The swamping was figurative, strictly a figure of speech. The adverb may also cause you trouble by falsely generalizing the coverage literally of your verb. was destroyed by the blitz.” This literally “London suggests that the whole city was destroyed, when, in fact, only parts were destroyed. Rewrite as blitz destroyed parts of London.” Now “The you’ve qualified properly (and gotten rid of the passive). Involve. When you’re tempted to use this word, resist. Like issue, tells the reader too little. (“Erasmus was in the Renais- involve involved sance.”) This statement could mean virtually anything. Delete it and discuss specifically what Erasmus said or did. Aspect. This is a fine old word with many precise meanings, but as an overused synonym for feature, side, or part, it is usually a sign of insipid prose (“Another of the issues in this area is the fact that...”). Just aspect get directly to the point. Impact. Most good writers frown on the use of this word as a verb. (“Eisenhower’s military background his foreign policy.”) Af- impacted fected, influenced, or shaped would be better here. suggests Impacted painfully blocked wisdom teeth or feces. is better than Had an impact but is still awkward because implies a collision. impacted, impact Factor. Here is another beloved but vapid word. (“Many led factors to the Reformation.”) Such a sentence usually opens a vague, boring, wea- seling paragraph. If you believe (quite reasonably) that the Reformation had many causes, then start evaluating them. Meaningful. Overuse has drained the meaning from meaningful. (“Peter the Great took steps to westernize Russia.”) Just get meaningful to the point.
were many issues involved with Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb, and some historians have issues with his decision.”) Stop talking about issues and get to the point. Literally. Beware of the word literally. It’s commonly misused, and you almost never need it in historical prose. Literally means actu- ally, factually, exactly, directly, without metaphor. The careful writer would never say, “Roosevelt literally swamped Landon in the election of 1936.” One imagines Roosevelt (in his wheelchair no less!) dumping the hapless Landon off a pier in the Everglades on election night. The swamping was figurative, strictly a figure of speech. The adverb literally may also cause you trouble by falsely generalizing the coverage of your verb. “London was literally destroyed by the blitz.” This suggests that the whole city was destroyed, when, in fact, only parts were destroyed. Rewrite as “The blitz destroyed parts of London.” Now you’ve qualified properly (and gotten rid of the passive). Involve. When you’re tempted to use this word, resist. Like issue, involve tells the reader too little. (“Erasmus was involved in the Renais- sance.”) This statement could mean virtually anything. Delete it and discuss specifically what Erasmus said or did. Aspect. This is a fine old word with many precise meanings, but as an overused synonym for feature, side, or part, it is usually a sign of insipid prose (“Another aspect of the issues in this area is the fact that...”). Just get directly to the point. Impact. Most good writers frown on the use of this word as a verb. (“Eisenhower’s military background impacted his foreign policy.”) Af- fected, influenced, or shaped would be better here. Impacted suggests painfully blocked wisdom teeth or feces. Had an impact is better than impacted, but is still awkward because impact implies a collision. Factor. Here is another beloved but vapid word. (“Many factors led to the Reformation.”) Such a sentence usually opens a vague, boring, wea- seling paragraph. If you believe (quite reasonably) that the Reformation had many causes, then start evaluating them. Meaningful. Overuse has drained the meaning from meaningful. (“Peter the Great took meaningful steps to westernize Russia.”) Just get to the point.