The nineteenth-century American critic Ambrose Bierce has left an exquisite little book entitled Write It Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults, which is still in print over 100 years after its first publication. The author’s aim is to teach precision in writing—‘Good writing is clear thinking made visible’ and his lexicographical purity and astuteness can be seen in the following examples.


• unique

  Bierce insists on the uniqueness of this word, which takes no qualifier whatsoever. Therefore, he advises us to shun constructions such as ‘very unique’ or ‘the most unique’.


• climb down

  Bierce just says curtly: ‘In climbing one ascends.’


• honeymoon

  Bierce’s view on this: ‘Moon here means month, so it’s incorrect to say, “a week’s honeymoon,” or, “Their honeymoon lasted a year.”
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But Bierce’s caution is still relevant today, as in the following examples:


• née

  Bierce reminds us that ‘Mrs. Jones, née Lucy Smith’ is contrary to common sense as, in his words, ‘She could hardly have been christened at birth.’ The correct usage is ‘Mrs. Jones, née Smith’.


• continually/continuously

  The fine difference between these two words is pointed out by Bierce: ‘What is done continually is not done all the time, but continuous action is without interruption. A loquacious fellow, who nevertheless finds time to eat and sleep, is continually talking; but a great river flows continuously.’


Editor
www.iso.cuhk.edu.hk/english/features/style-speaks/index.html