No, it's not my birthday. It's the birthday of one of the greatest bibles of all time. Strunk & White's Elements of Style turns 50 years old today. Morning Edition did a segment on the definitive writing guide this morning, noting that children's author E. B. White rediscovered a brief guide to style by William Strunk, his professor at Cornell University. The guide was published by Macmillan in 1959 and has informed countless English majors and future Grammar Bitches in ways that will haunt them all their days.
The most famous dictum: OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS
Here is that section, in it's entirety.
17. Omit needless words.
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.
Many expressions in common use violate this principle.
the question as to whether / whether (the question whether)
there is no doubt but that / no doubt (doubtless)
used for fuel purposes / used for fuel
he is a man who / he
in a hasty manner / hastily
this is a subject that / this subject
Her story is a strange one. / Her story is strange.
the reason why is that / because
The fact that is an especially debilitating expression. It should be revised out of every sentence in which it occurs.
owing to the fact that / since (because)
in spite of the fact that / though (although)
call your attention to the fact that / remind you (notify you)
I was unaware of the fact that / I was unaware that (did not know)
the fact that he had not succeeded / his failure
the fact that I had arrived / my arrival
See also the words case, character, nature in Chapter IV. Who is, which was and the like are often superfluous.
His cousin, who is a member of the same firm / His cousin, a member of the same firm
Trafalgar, which was Nelson's last battle / Trafalgar, Nelson's last battle
As the active voice is more concise than the passive, and a positive statement more concise than a negative one, many of the examples given under Rules 14 and 15 illustrate this rule as well.
A common way to fall into wordiness is to present a single complex idea, step by step, in a series of sentences that might to advantage be combined into one.
Macbeth was very ambitious. This led him to wish to become king of Scotland. The witches told him that this wish of his would come true. The king of Scotland at this time was Duncan. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth murdered Duncan. He was thus enabled to succeed Duncan as king. (51 words)
Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth achieved his ambition and realized the prediction of the witches by murdering Duncan and becoming king of Scotland in his place. (26 words)
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