Top 7 Wastepaper Phrases
By Marion Marking
[Marion Marking is editor in chief at ChinaBusiness-Philippines magazine, which publishes monthly in English and Chinese and is available at National Bookstore, Powerbooks, Fully Booked, leading newsstands nationwide, and online via http://ChinaBusinessPhilippines.com. She can be reached at m.marking@fairnewsmedia.com.]
I have ADHD. My excuse is that I've been editing stories for over 10 years and I've seen all sorts of writers, angles, turns of phrase, and pointless sentences that made my mind wander to thoughts of ordering pizza, being a rock star, or having superpowers.
But if you're an editor, having an attention deficit can help you quickly sniff out BS or spot useless words. Editors call overly long phrases littered with useless words “wastepaper phrases.”
Whether you're preparing a message, a business letter, or a job application, getting your point across with the least possible number of words makes more sense. The less words you use, the less cluttered your message will be.
Following are my top wastepaper phrases (for this month, at least):
1. In the event of – Why not say “if”?
2. For a period of – Three letters for violators: for
2. A large part/portion/segment of – Gee, why not “most” instead?
3. Prior to – Some even use the more dreadful “Preparatory to.” (Yikes!) Why not simply “before”?
4. At this point in time – As opposed to this point in space? Please! “At this point” will suffice.
5. On the part of – Particularly egregious offenders of this one are politicians and Senate witnesses, who should all say “by” iinstead!
6. In the neighborhood of – No excuse for this one when you can say “near,” “around,” “approximately.” Even “about” or “some” will do.
7. Is firmly of the opinion – How about “believes”? Not enough? Then “firmly/strongly believes”!
I'll end with two other irritants: “Requested for” and “for free.”
Request is literally to “ask for.” A second “for” makes the phrase ungrammatical. You may, however, say “a request for pardon” since, in this instance, “request” is a noun.
Free means “for nothing.” (I got this laptop free.) If you must insist on adding something (Looks incomplete, does it?), use “free of charge” instead. A bit cluttered, but grammatical.
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