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Clutter…and simplicity

Clutter…and simplicity. What is clutter?. Clutter is a disease that strangles language in unnecessary words, roundabout constructions, pompous decoration and meaningless jargon It infects us with a tendency to inflate and sound important

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Clutter…and simplicity

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  1. Clutter…and simplicity

  2. What is clutter? • Clutter is a disease that strangles language in unnecessary words, roundabout constructions, pompous decoration and meaningless jargon • It infects us with a tendency to inflate and sound important • The disease is usually worse in better educated, higher-ranking people

  3. What the airline pilot said • “We are presently anticipating our trajectory passing through considerable atmospheric turbulence.” What he meant • “There’s a storm ahead and it may get bumpy.”

  4. What the university president said • “We have been experiencing very considerable potentially explosive expressions of dissatisfaction on issues only partially related to academics” What he meant • “The students have been hassling us about various things.”

  5. Strip every sentence to its cleanest components • Cut every word that serves no function • Needless to say, it is necessary for us to reduce the deficit = …? • Turn long words into short words • Interminable dialogue = …? • Cut adverbs that carry the same meaning as the verb • He ran quickly to the bank = …? • Turn passive sentences into active sentences • The trees were being fallen from by leaves = …?

  6. Work together to market your crops

  7. Fighting clutter • Like fighting weeds– the writer is always slightly behind • New varieties sprout overnight • “Now” used to be now • Today, now = at this point in timeat the present time currently

  8. More clutter • Up • Head up a committee = Head a committee • Face up to problems = Face problems • Personal • My personal friend = My friend • My personal assistant = My assistant • To my personal advantage = To my advantage

  9. Spot the unneeded words • Lessons learned = Lessons • Future plans = Plans • Background information= Background (or leave it out) • Very unique= Unique • First introduced= Introduced • New innovation= Innovation • Early beginnings = Start

  10. Words to watch • Context • In the Vietnamese context= In Vietnam • Level • At the farm level = On the farm • Case • In the case of sorghum, = Sorghum yields yields rose by 10%rose by 10%

  11. Words to watch • Respectively • Yields of rice and maize rose by 3% and 12% respectively • Rice yields rose 3%; maize yields went up 12%. • Work • The NGO has worked to support • The NGO has supported • The organization worked to promote the sharing of lessons… • The organization shared lessons…

  12. Yet more clutter • Experiencing • Weather broadcast:“At the present time we are experiencing precipitation” = It’s raining • Dentist: “Are you experiencingany pain?” = “Does it hurt?”

  13. Things to avoid • Avoid sentences that begin with… • I might add… • It should be pointed out that… • It is interesting to note that… • Avoid inflated prepositions and conjunctions Examples • With the possible exception of…Except • For the reason that…Because • He totally lacked the ability to…He couldn’t • She was unable to give any information beyond the fact that…She said

  14. Things to avoid • More inflation • With the aim of adapting…To adapt • The objective of the project was to…The project aimed to

  15. Get rid of the unnecessary words • To acknowledge these initiatives, to learn from them and to prevent double work, the network has been active in supporting the documentation of a number of these. • To acknowledge these initiatives, to learn from them and to prevent double work, the network has been active in supporting the documentationof a number of these. • The network has documented some of these initiatives.

  16. Checklist for avoiding clutter • Re-examine every sentence you write • Is every word doing useful work? • Can any thought be expressed more briefly? • Does anything sound pompous or pretentious? • Are you keeping any word only because you think it’s beautiful? • Tool for cutting clutter • Roget’s Thesaurus or any other good dictionary of synonyms.

  17. Three rules for cutting clutter • SIMPLIFY • SIMPLIFY • SIMPLIFY

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