** Disclaimer: I am not suggesting I’m a perfect writer. I once used the word ‘generalisability’ in a conference paper so I really shouldn’t be casting any stones. I’m a fan of using words and punctuation creatively. I’m an editor’s nightmare. But you will never, ever catch me using the word ‘whilst’. 
**
This post has been sitting in draft since *last* #blogjune, and since I’m about to embark on a whole load of marking, I figured it was timely that I post this now.
Have you read Fifty shades of grey yet? It’s a good example of formal language gone wrong. The dialogue is stilted because it’s unnecessarily and unrealistically formal.
Just as the dialogue in Fifty shades clunks because of its formality, some words commonly used in academic and business writing are archaic, wanky and off-putting. For me, these words fall into two categories: unnecessarily formal, and clunky joiners.
Here are some of my (least) favourites.
Unnecessarily formal
These are a bunch of words that people tend to use instead of simple language when they’re writing something formal or academic. There’s a common misconception that ‘academic’ means ‘verbose’, ‘complex’ or ‘not everyday’. Stick a couple of extra letters at the end of a common word and you’ve elevated your writing to a different level of quality, right? Uh, wrong.
There is never, ever any need to use these words. Unless you’re the Queen.
- Whilst: while we *always* do. I hate this word more than any other in the English language.
- Utilise (even worse if it uses a ‘z’): what’s wrong with ‘use’?
- Thus: often used in really complex sentence structures and it just doesn’t work for me at all.
- Therefore: so?
Clunky joiners
These are words people use to link sentences together and they are most annoying when they are used in a completely arbitrary way. An old friend of mine uses these words at random, without any recognition of the fact they actually have a meaning and need to be carefully selected. A few that really frustrate me:
- Furthermore
- Moreover
- Heretofore
Used correctly and very sparingly, these words are okay. But there are much more elegant ways to craft separate sentences into paragraphs that flow. It’s just a little more work to pull them off.
Simple is beautiful
Writing economically is a bit of an art and it’s also a bit risky, I guess. If your language is simple, your content is on display. Some people attempt to hide less-than-perfect content with verbose sentence structures. For other people it’s less deliberate. They just think they have to use formal words in certain types of writing. But if you use these ugly, unnecessary words, you’re causing extra work for the reader. They have to dig through your language to access the content. This means you’re stopping your readers from understanding what you’re saying. And that’s never a good thing.
Does anyone else have a problem with these words? Or others? Please share yours in the comments!
There’s a time and place, I think. Those words set a tone and are sometimes useful, but not always. I’m more bothered by speakers trying to sound fancy, and in doing so, make no sense. “Irregardless” – have you heard that one? Hell cringeworthy.
Uh oh! I use therefore all the time possibly because it sounds like you are drawing a logical conclusion. The words I have a problem with though are actually some short phrases I suspect we have adopted from the USA recently: reaching out, moving forward and passing over.
Ha! ‘irregardless’ is not word! Anyone who uses it just sounds like a dolt!
Any of those management speak words that have crawled into everyday vocabulary – learnings, “grow your business” etc… Ugh!!
Yes there are definitely times and places for these things – but not many!
I hate people missing words -I literally passed out when I got that bill…. And of course the is the huge blatant misuse of apostrophes -don’t get me started there!
A lot of my writing is for the web and I often have to cut down other people’s writing down to simple no jargon language-and it can be hard work at times.
So great post Kate.
‘Irregardless’ is a mind snap mixing up irrespective and regardless into a single word that is used synonymously with both of its components. If you get pedantic, it actually means ‘not-regardless’ or ‘pertinent’. It is an ideal ‘word’ to use ironically or for effect! But in most cases I think it is used accidentally.
As to utilise, I agree Kate that in most cases the word ‘use’ is what is actually meant and should be used (not utilised). However there are subtle differences between use and utilise. — http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/utilise
I would accept utilise when talking about employing something for a purpose it was not originally intended, or when making something available to be used.
To open beer bottles at the party, the corner of the retaining wall was utilised by the addition of a sign saying “open bottles here” and the co-location of a bucket for the bottle tops. (It was pressed into service as a tool). Whether anyone actually used it for that purpose is another matter.
My favourite principles for writing is to just think about the idea/concept that needs to be communicated in each sentence and to be as succinct as possible. Think about the poor reader.
@Sandy oooh, I’ve never come across irregardless (OMG iOS just predicted that word! WTF?! Wie’ll have to agree to disagree on the others – apart from the occasional therefore, I think that there aren’t many circumstances in which these words couldn’t be replaced with something less formal. (So Carol, you and your therefores are ok, I guess!)
@Carol totally agree with the Americanisms, and Kristy, I’m with you on the management terms – they’re a bit like Carols Americanisms (and I think some of them – like ‘grow your business’ – are actually Americanisms).
@Kate I should get you to talk to my students about writing for the web! Next year, you’re on my hit list. I am a fiend about apostrophes too. If I accidentally miss one or put it in the wrong spot, even in a tweet, I cringe inside.
Peta, you’re right. I think in most instances, though, people use them interchangeably, which bothers me. I guess it’s acceptable in the instance you describe, but there are more active ways to write that sentence, sans-utilise.
I also forgot to mention interchangeable use of which and that, another thing I find annoying!
In my mind, the only possible words that may follow “whilst” are “thou art”. Ugly, archaic and just … yuck!