A note on style
I just finished a book on the American participation in WWI. The author did a fine job but his style could have been better. It wasn't all the passive voice but there were hints of it.
It got me to thinking and here are two sentences that say exactly the same thing, but one is more interesting than the other.
It was used in combat operations.
It was used in combat.
Why is the word operations there at all? It just slows down the narrative.
It got me to thinking and here are two sentences that say exactly the same thing, but one is more interesting than the other.
It was used in combat operations.
It was used in combat.
Why is the word operations there at all? It just slows down the narrative.
posted by Carl at 3:31 PM
3 Comments:
does the word 'operations' imply it was used in combat thinking or planning as opposed to used in actual combat.
those two sentences were composed by me to illustrate the point. they didn't come from the book. in the old days they would have said, combat, nowadays that isn't good enough so they add something verbose because they think it makes them sound more educated.
hope you're alive and ok.
cheers!
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