2018-08-04
昨日阅读1小时，累计阅读355小时
1. 今天阅读到的有价值的全文内容链接:
Continue Reading “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr.
2. 今天阅读到的有价值的内容段落摘录:
Farther. Further. The two words are commonly interchanged, but there is a distinction worth observing: farther serves best as a distance word, further as a time or quantity word. You chase a ball farther than the other fellow; you pursue a subject further.
Feature. Another hackneyed word; like factor, it usually adds nothing to the sentence in which it occurs. As a verb, in the sense of “offer as a special attraction”, it is to be avoided.
Finalize. A pompous, ambiguous verb.
Fix. Colloquial in America for arrange, prepare, mend. The usage is well established. But bear in mind that this verb is from figere: “to make firm”, “to place definitely”. These are the preferred meaning of the word.
Flammable. An oddity, chiefly useful in saving lives. The common word meaning “combustible” is inflammable. But some people are thrown off by the in- and think inflammable means “not combustible”. For this reason, trucks carrying gasoline or explosives are now marked FLAMMABLE. Unless you are operating such a truck and hence are concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use inflammable.
Folk. A collective noun, equivalent to people.
Fortuitous. Limited to what happens by chance. Not to be used for fortunate or lucky.
Get. The colloquial have got for have should not be used in writing. The preferable form of the participle is got, not gotten.
Gratuitous. Means “unearned” or “unwarranted”. Not “undeserved”.
He is a man who. A common type of redundant expressions.
Hopefully. This once-useful adverb meaning “with hope” has been distorted and is now widely used to mean “I hope” or “it is to be hoped”. Such use is not merely wrong, it is silly.
However. Avoid starting a sentence with however when the meaning is “nevertheless”. The word usually serves better when not in first position. When however comes first, it means “in whatever way” or “to whatever extent”.
Illusion.
Imply. Infer. Not interchangeable. Something implied is something suggested or indicated, though not expressed. Something inferred is something deduced from evidence at hand.
Importantly. Avoid by rephrasing. What’s more,... More important,..
In regard to. Often wrongly written in regards to. But as regards is correct, and means the same thing.
In the last analysis. A bankrupt expression.
Inside of. Inside. The of following inside is correct in the adverbial meaning “in less than”. In other meanings, of is unncessary.
Insightful. The word is a suspicious overstatement for “perceptive”. If it is to be used at all, it should be used for instances of remarkably penetrating vision. Usually, it crops up merely to inflate the commonplace.
In terms of. A piece of padding usually best ommitted.
Interesting. An unconvincing word; avoid it as a means of introduction. Instead of announcing that what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
Irregardless.S hould be regardless. Wrongly suggested by the words: irregular, irresponsible, irrespective.
-ize. Do not coin verbs by adding this tempting suffix. Many good and useful verbs do end in -ize: summarize, fraternize, harmonize, fertilize. But there is a growing list of abominations: containerize, prioritize, finalize, to name three. Be suspicious of -ize; let your ear and your eye guide you. Never tack -ize onto a noun to create a verb. Usually you will discover that a useful verb already exists. Why say “utilize” when there is the simple, unpretentious word use?
Kind of. Except in familiar style, not to be used as a substitute for rather or something like. Restrict it to its literal sense. The same holds true for sort of.
Lay. A transitive verb. Except in slang (“Let it lay”), do not misuse it for the intransitive verb lie.
lie, lay, lain, lying
lay, laid, laid, laying
Leave. Not to be misused for let.
Less. Should not be misused for fewer. Less refers to quantity, fewer to number.
Like. Not to be used for the conjunction as. Like governs nouns and pronouns; before phrases and clauses the equivalent word is as.
Line. Along these lines. Line in the sense of “course of procedure, conduct, thought” is allowable but has been so overworked, particularly in the phrase along these lines, that a writer who aims at freshness or originality had better discard it entirely. “She spokes along the same lines” → “She spokes to the same effect”.
Literal. Literally. Often incorrectly used in support of exaggeration or violent metaphor. “a literal food of abuse” → “a flood of abuse” “literally dead with fatigue” → “almost dead with fatigue”
Loan. A noun. As a verb, prefer lend.
Meaningful. A bankrupt adjective. Choose another, or rephrase.
Memento. Often incorrectly written momento.
Most. Not to be used for almost in formal composition.
Nature. Often simply redundant, used like character. “acts of a hostile nature” → “hostile acts”
Nauseous. Nauseated. The first means “sickening to contemplate”; the second means “sick at the stomach”. Do not, therefore, say, “I feel nauseous”, unless you are sure you have that effect on others.
Nice. A shaggy, all-purpose word, to be used sparingly in formal composition. The meanings are indistinct. Nice is most useful in the sense of “precise” or “delicate”: “a nice distinction”.
Nor. Often used wrongly for or after negative expressions.
Noun used as verb. Many nouns have lately been pressed into service as verbs. Not all are bad, but all are suspect.
Offputting. Ongoing. Newfound adjectives, to be avoided because they are inexact and clumsy. Ongoing is a mix of “continuing” and “active” and is usually superfluous. Offputting might mean “objectionable”, “disconcerting”, “distasteful”. Select instead a word whose meaning is clear. As a simple test, transform the participles to verbs. It is possible to upset something. But to offput? To ongo?
One. In the sense of “a person”, not to be followed by his or her. “One must watch his step’” → “One must watch one’s step’”
One of the most. Avoid this feeble formula. Nothing is wrong on the grammar; the formula is simply threadbare.
-oriented. A clumsy, pretentious device, much in vogue. Find a better way of indicating orientation or alignment or direction. “manufacturing-oriented company” → “a company chiefly concerned with manufacturing” “are situation-oriented” → “rely on situation”
Partially. Not always interchangable with partly. Best used in the sense of “to a certain degree”, when speaking of a condition or state: “I am partially resigned to it”. Partly carries the idea of a part as distinct from the whole---usually a physical object.
Participle for verbal noun. Any sentence in which the use of the possessive is awkward or impossible should of course be recast.
People. A word with many meanings. The people is a political term, not to be confused with the public. From the people comes political support or opposition; from the public comes artistic appreciation or commercial patronage. The work people is best not used with words of number, in place of persons.
3. 今天阅读的自我思考点评感想
As one of the best book available on writing good English, the misused words summary is useful. Note that the book's purism, atavism, and personal eccentricity is not completely underpinned by the modern English grammar. For young writers, I recommend them to read the book with a critical thinking to match their personalized needs.
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