Let some air out of those gasbag expressions!

Source: Wikimedia Commons public domain
photo (with text added by the author).

The sting from some cutting remarks scribbled on your papers by teachers of yore can last a lifetime. For example, I’ll never forget the venomous response my use of the pompous phrase “So I say” (as a lead-in to one of my conclusions) elicited from my high school English teacher. Needless to say, until this very moment, I had never written “So I say” again in my life.

Likewise, I often cross out “I believe” (as well as "My opinion is that...") in student papers. Though “I believe” is certainly less pretentious-sounding than “So I say,” it is nevertheless redundant. If you are writing a paper and asserting your beliefs, then there is seldom any reason to write “I believe” in it. After all, we know it’s what you believe because you’re the one writing it. Just say it!

Now quick, puncture those gasbag expressions and let the wind out before your prose explodes!

© 2014 Bob Dial.  All rights reserved.