Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Qualifiers
Don't pile qualifiers on top of one another.Within a sentence, use at most one qualifier
such as “might”, “may”, “perhaps”, “possibly”, “likely”, “likelihood”, or “could”.
Overuse of qualifiers results in text that is lame and timid.
It is perhaps possible that the algorithm might fail on unusual input.
The algorithm might fail on unusual input.
It is possible that the algorithm would fail on unusual input.
Here is another example, from the conclusions of a paper.
We are planning to consider possible options for extending our results.
We are considering how to extend our results.
Double negatives are a form of qualifier; they are commonly used to express uncer-
tainty.
Merten's algorithm is not dissimilar to ours.
Such statements tell the reader little.
Qualifiers such as “very” and “quite” should be avoided, because they are in
effect meaningless. If an algorithm is “very fast”, is an algorithm that is merely
“fast” deficient in some way? Writing is invariably more forceful without “very”.
There is very little advantage to the networked approach.
There is little advantage to the networked approach.
Likewise, “simply” can often be deleted.
The standard method is simply too slow.
The standard method is too slow.
Other words of this kind are “totally”, “completely”, “truly”, “highly”, “usually”,
“accordingly”, “certainly”, “necessarily”, and “somewhat”.
Misused Words
The Table
7.1
lists words that are often used incorrectly because of confusion with
another word of similar form or sound. The “usually correct” form is shown on the
left; the form with which each word gets confused is shown on the right. Some other
problem words are as follows.
Which, that, the
. Many writers use “which” when “that” is appropriate. Use
“which” only when it cannot be replaced by “that”.
