It’s essential for journalists to maintain precision in their use of language, especially when dealing with words that sound or look similar but which carry different meanings.

Journalists not only have to be accurate with their facts, they also need to be clear in their writing. Using the wrong words can confuse the audience and lead to the spread of misinformation.

In his article, The Power of Words, John Allen listed 26 combinations of words that sound or look the similar but have a different meaning, spelling, or both. These words are called ‘homophones’. We have taken John’s list and expanded it to 110 words by referencing several sources which we have included below.

We then fed the list into Google Gemini AI with the prompt to order the words alphabetically as well as adding a sentence to each grouping explaining the meaning of the words. The team at MHM then went through the list, checked the text and revised where necessary.

We hope you find the list helpful. It’s likely we will add to it as new combinations come to light.

• Abuse/Misuse: Abuse is to treat badly; misuse is to use incorrectly.
• Affect/Effect: Affect is to influence; effect is a result.
• Aggravate/Annoy: Aggravate is to worsen; annoy is to irritate.
• Amend/Emend: Amend is to modify; emend is to correct text.
• Amiable/Amicable: Amiable is friendly; amicable is characterised by friendliness.
• Anticipate/Expect: Anticipate is to foresee and act; expect is to believe something will happen.
• Appraise/Apprise: Appraise is to assess value; apprise is to inform.
• Assent/Agree: Assent is to concur formally; agree is to have the same opinion.
• Assumption/Presumption: Assumption is something taken for granted; presumption is an arrogant supposition.
• Assure/Ensure/Insure: Assure is to remove doubt; ensure is to make certain; insure is to protect against risk.
• Aural/Oral: Aural relates to hearing; oral relates to speaking.
• Beside/Besides: Beside means next to; besides means in addition to.
• Biannual/Biennial: Biannual occurs twice a year; biennial occurs every two years.
• Born/Borne: Born is brought into life; borne is carried.
• Breach/Breech: Breach is a violation; breech is the rear part of a firearm or lower rear part of the body.
• Broach/Brooch: Broach is to introduce a topic; brooch is an ornamental pin.
• Can/May: Can indicates ability; may indicates permission.
• Captivate/Capture: Captivate is to attract and hold attention; capture is to seize.
• Censor/Sensor: Censor is to suppress content; sensor is a device that detects.
• Childish/Childlike: Childish is immature; childlike is innocent.
• Chord/Cord: Chord is a musical combination; cord is a thin rope.
• Cite/Sight/Site: Cite is to quote; sight is the ability to see; site is a location.
• Collude/Conspire: Collude is to cooperate secretly; conspire is to plan secretly.
• Common/Mutual: Common is shared; mutual is reciprocal.
• Complement/Compliment: Complement completes or enhances; compliment expresses praise.
• Compose/Comprise: Compose is to create; comprise is to consist of.
• Compulsive/Compulsory: Compulsive is driven by an irresistible urge; compulsory is required by law.
• Comprise/Consist: Comprise is to include or contain; consist is to be made up of.
• Continual/Continuous: Continual occurs repeatedly; continuous occurs without interruption.
• Credible/Credulous: Credible is believable; credulous is gullible.
• Defective/Deficient: Defective has a flaw; deficient lacks something.
• Definite/Definitive: Definite is certain; definitive is conclusive.
• Dependent/Dependant: Dependent is an adjective meaning relying on; dependant is a noun meaning a person who relies on another.
• Desert/Dessert: Desert is a dry area; dessert is a sweet course.
• Diagnosis/Prognosis: Diagnosis is identification of an illness; prognosis is a prediction of its course.
• Discreet/Discrete: Discreet means tactful; discrete means separate.
• Disinterested/Uninterested: Disinterested means impartial; uninterested means not interested.
• Distinctive/Distinguished: Distinctive is characteristic; distinguished is renowned.
• Draft/Draught: Draft is a preliminary version; draught is a current of air or a drink.
• Dual/Duel: Dual means having two parts; duel is a contest between two people.
• Economic/Economical: Economic relates to the economy; economical is thrifty.
• Emotional/Emotive: Emotional relates to emotions; emotive arouses emotions.
• Emigrate/Immigrate: Emigrate is to leave a country; immigrate is to enter a country.
• Empathy/Sympathy: Empathy is understanding feelings; sympathy is feeling pity.
• Emulate/Imitate: Emulate is to strive to equal; imitate is to copy.
• Epidemic/Pandemic: Epidemic is a widespread disease; pandemic is a global epidemic.
• Equable/Equitable: Equable is steady or even; equitable is fair.
• Exhausted/Exhaustive: Exhausted is tired; exhaustive is thorough.
• Fair/Fare: Fair means just or light-coloured; fare is a cost or food.
• Farther/Further: Farther refers to physical distance; further refers to metaphorical distance.
• Fewer/Less: Fewer refers to countable items; less refers to uncountable items.
• Flounder/Founder: Flounder is to struggle; founder is to fail or sink.
• Flout/Flaunt: Flout is to disregard; flaunt is to show off.
• Forbear/Forebear: Forbear is to refrain; forebear is an ancestor.
• Forego/Forgo: Forego is to precede; forgo is to abstain from.
• Fortuitous/Fortunate: Fortuitous is accidental; fortunate is lucky.
• Grand/Grandiose: Grand is impressive; grandiose is exaggeratedly impressive.
• Hang/Hung: Hang is to suspend; hung is the past participle of hang.
• Heroin/Heroine: Heroin is an opiate; heroine is a female hero.
• Hoard/Horde: Hoard is to accumulate; horde is a large group.
• Imaginary/Imaginative: Imaginary is unreal; imaginative is creative.
• Imply/Infer: Imply is to suggest; infer is to deduce.
• Innovation/Invention: Innovation is a new method; invention is a new device.
• Innuendo/Insinuation: Innuendo is an indirect suggestion; insinuation is a subtle hint.
• Inflammable/Inflammatory: Inflammable is capable of catching fire; inflammatory causes inflammation or arouses anger.
• Its/It’s: Its is a possessive pronoun; it’s is a contraction of “it is.”
• Junction/Juncture: Junction is a point of intersection; juncture is a point in time.
• Knell/Knoll: Knell is a sound of a bell; knoll is a small hill.
• Lama/Llama: Lama is a Buddhist teacher; llama is a South American animal.
• Latitude/Longitude: Latitude is distance north or south; longitude is distance east or west.
• Lay/Lie: Lay is to place something; lie is to recline.
• Livid/Lurid: Livid is furiously angry; lurid is shockingly vivid.
• Loose/Lose: Loose is not tight; lose is to misplace.
• Loathe/Loath/Loth: Loathe means to hate; loath/loth means unwilling.
• Luxuriant/Luxurious: Luxuriant means abundant; luxurious means opulent.
• Macho/Manly: Macho is aggressively masculine; manly is having traditionally masculine qualities.
• Majority/Most of: Majority is more than half; most of is the greater part.
• Masterful/Masterly: Masterful is domineering; masterly is very skilled.
• May/Might: May indicates possibility or permission; might indicates possibility or past possibility.
• Medical/Medicinal: Medical relates to medicine; medicinal has healing properties.
• Metal/Mettle: Metal is a substance; mettle is courage.
• Meter/Metre: Meter is a measuring device; metre is a unit of length.
• More Than/Over: More than is for quantities; over is for spatial relationships.
• Naked/Nude: Naked is without clothes; nude is unclothed for artistic purposes.
• Negligent/Negligible: Negligent is careless; negligible is insignificant.
• Niceness/Nicety: Niceness is pleasantness; nicety is a fine detail.
• Objective/Subjective: Objective is unbiased; subjective is based on personal feelings.
• Official/Officious: Official is authorised; officious is overly assertive.
• Ordinance/Ordnance: Ordinance is a law; ordnance is military weapons.
• Peddle/Pedal: Peddle is to sell; pedal is to operate a lever with the foot.
• Perpetrate/Perpetuate: Perpetrate is to commit a crime; perpetuate is to cause to continue.
• Phenomenon/Phenomenal: Phenomenon is an observable fact; phenomenal is extraordinary.
• Pitiful/Pathetic: Pitiful evokes pity; pathetic evokes contempt or pity.
• Populous/Populist: Populous is densely populated; populist appeals to ordinary people.
• Precipitate/Precipitous: Precipitate is to cause to happen suddenly; precipitous is steep or sudden.
• Prevaricate/Procrastinate: Prevaricate is to avoid telling the truth; procrastinate is to delay.
• Quash/Squash: Quash is to suppress; squash is to crush.
• Respective/Irrespective: Respective relates to each individually; irrespective means regardless.
• Restive/Restless: Restive is uneasy or impatient; restless is unable to relax.
• Shall/Will: Shall is used for future with “I” and “we” or to express obligation; will is used for future with other subjects or to express intention.
• Should/Would: Should indicates obligation or expectation; would indicates a conditional or habitual action.
• Simple/Simplistic: Simple is easy or basic; simplistic is overly simplified.
• Stationary/Stationery: Stationary means not moving; stationery is writing materials.
• Suggestible/Suggestive: Suggestible is easily influenced; suggestive implies something indirectly.
• Temerity/Timidity: Temerity is excessive boldness; timidity is lack of courage.
• That/Which: That is used for restrictive clauses; which is used for non-restrictive clauses.
• Tortuous/Torturous: Tortuous is winding or complex; torturous involves severe pain.
• Underlie/Underlay: Underlie is to be the basis of; underlay is to place something under.
• Valuable/Invaluable: Valuable has great worth; invaluable is priceless.
• Who/Whom: Who is a subject pronoun; whom is an object pronoun.
• Who’s/Whose: Who’s is a contraction of “who is”; whose is a possessive pronoun.

Our list is by no means a complete list of homophones but it includes many words commonly misused in journalism. If you want to browse through almost 450 examples you might want to visit Singularis.

Sources used

• Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus
• The Guide To Better English – Gooden
• The Longman Guide To English Usage – Greenbaum/Whitcut
• The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage – Burchfield
• The Simple Subs Book – Sellers
• A Journalist’s Guide To The Use of English – Bottomley/Loftus

The post Frequently confused words first appeared on Media Helping Media.

It’s based on the article ‘Clichés, journalese, and jargon‘ which we recommend trainers study before adapting the following lesson outline.

Learning objective

Students will identify and critique the use of clichés, journalese, and jargon in their writing. They will also demonstrate the ability to revise text to improve clarity and precision.

• Student-facing objective: By the end of this lesson the student will be able to spot clichés, journalese, and jargon in writing and make changes to make the text clearer and more precise.
• Standards: A training lesson designed to help students learn the importance of avoiding the use of clichés journalese, and jargon in their writing.

Learning activities

Warm-up

Present students with a short paragraph filled with clichés, journalese, and jargon. Ask them to read it silently and identify any phrases or words that seem overused or unclear. After a few minutes, have students share their findings with a partner. Then, facilitate a brief class discussion, asking students to explain why certain phrases might be problematic and how they could be improved for clarity. This primes students to recognise and critique these elements in writing.

Direct instruction

Conceptual understanding: Begin by explaining the definitions of clichés, journalese, and jargon. Use real examples from recent news articles to illustrate each concept. Discuss why these elements can hinder clear communication. Highlight how clichés can make writing predictable, journalese can obscure meaning, and jargon can alienate readers unfamiliar with specific terms.

Procedural skills and fluency: Provide students with a list of sentences containing clichés, journalese, and jargon. Ask them to work in pairs to rewrite these sentences for clarity and precision. Encourage them to replace vague or overused phrases with specific, straightforward language. Facilitate a class discussion to review their revisions, emphasising the importance of clear communication in journalism.

Application: Assign a short writing task where students must report on a simple event (e.g., a school announcement) without using clichés, journalese, or jargon. Have them focus on delivering the information clearly and concisely. Afterward, conduct a peer review session where students exchange their reports and provide feedback on clarity and language use.

Guided practice

Think, Pair, Share: Distribute a short article filled with clichés, journalese, and jargon.

• Think: Have students individually read the article and highlight problematic phrases.
• Pair: In pairs, students discuss their findings and suggest clearer alternatives.
• Share: Facilitate a class discussion where pairs share their revisions and reasoning.
• Collect and display: Record student suggestions on the board, organising them into categories (clichés, journalese, jargon).
• Reflection: Ask students to reflect on how their understanding of clear communication has evolved through this exercise.

Independent practice

• Exercise: Provide students with a worksheet containing sentences filled with clichés, journalese, and jargon. Instruct them to rewrite each sentence, focusing on clarity and precision.
• Peer Review: Once completed, have students exchange worksheets with a partner for peer review. Encourage them to provide constructive feedback on the clarity and effectiveness of the revisions.
• Reflection: Ask students to write a brief reflection on the challenges they faced in identifying and revising these elements, and how this practice might influence their future writing.

Assignment

Ask these questions:

1. What is one reason why using clichés, journalese, or jargon can weaken writing?
2. How can replacing jargon with straightforward language improve communication?
3. What’s one question you still have from today’s lesson?

Suggested answers:

• Suggested answer to Question 1: They can make writing predictable and obscure meaning.
• Suggested answer to Question 2: It makes the text clearer and more accessible to a wider audience.

Teacher resources

Differentiation guide

• Advanced learners: Encourage them to identify and critique more subtle examples of clichés, journalese, and jargon. Challenge them to rewrite complex passages from professional articles, focusing on enhancing clarity and precision. Suggest they explore the impact of these elements on different audiences and contexts.
• Striving learners: Provide additional examples and practice opportunities. Use simpler texts to help them identify clichés, journalese, and jargon. Offer sentence starters or templates to guide their revisions. Pair them with peers for collaborative exercises to build confidence and understanding.
• Recommended reading: This lesson plan is based on the article ‘Clichés, journalese, and jargon‘ which we recommend trainers study before adapting the following lesson outline.

Notable definitions

• Cliché: An overused phrase or expression that has lost its originality and impact, often making writing predictable and uninspired.
• Journalese: A style of writing typical of newspapers, characterised by the use of sensationalised language and clichés, which can obscure meaning and clarity.
• Jargon: Specialised language used by a particular group or profession, which can be confusing or alienating to those not familiar with the terminology.

Required materials

• Copies of a short paragraph filled with clichés, journalese, and jargon for the warm-up activity.
• A list of sentences containing clichés, journalese, and jargon for the direct instruction activity.
• A short article filled with clichés, journalese, and jargon for the guided practice activity.
• Worksheets with sentences filled with clichés, journalese, and jargon for the independent practice exercise.
• Highlighters for students to mark problematic phrases.
• Whiteboard and markers for recording student suggestions during class discussions.

Lesson summary

• Warm-up
• Direct instruction
• Guided practice
• Independent practice
• Assignment

The free teaching tools at the Khan Academy were used in the production of this lesson plan.

Related article

Clichés, journalese, and jargon

The post Lesson: Journalese first appeared on Media Helping Media.

We recommend trainers read the article ‘Clarity is as important as accuracy‘ which is published on Media Helping Media before adapting the lesson plan for their own purposes.

Learning objective

Students will evaluate the clarity of journalistic writing by identifying and revising unclear language. They will apply principles of clear writing to ensure both accuracy and reader comprehension in news articles.

• Student-facing objective: By the end of this lesson the student will be able to spot unclear language in news articles and make their writing clearer while maintaining accuracy.
• Standards: Journalism students will learn that clarity is as important as accuracy.

Learning activities

Warm-up

Present students with two short news excerpts. One is clear and concise, the other is verbose and unclear. Ask students to read both silently and then discuss with a partner which excerpt they found easier to understand and why. Encourage them to focus on specific language choices that contributed to clarity or confusion. After a few minutes, facilitate a brief class discussion to highlight their observations. This primes students to think critically about clarity in journalism.

Direct instruction

Introduce clarity principles: Begin by explaining the importance of clarity in journalism. Discuss how clarity ensures reader comprehension and maintains accuracy. Highlight Orwell’s six rules for clear writing, emphasising the avoidance of clichés, jargon, and unnecessary words. Use real-world examples to illustrate these points, such as comparing a clear news headline with a convoluted one.

Analyse examples: Present students with a news article containing unclear language. As a class, identify specific instances where clarity is lacking. Discuss why these choices hinder understanding and how they could be improved. Encourage students to suggest revisions, focusing on simplifying language and restructuring sentences for clarity.

Revise for clarity: Provide students with a short, unclear news excerpt. Instruct them to rewrite the excerpt, applying the principles discussed. Emphasise the use of active voice, short words, and straightforward language. Afterward, select a few students to share their revisions with the class, discussing the changes made and their impact on clarity.

Guided practice

Conduct a Think, Pair, Share activity to reinforce clarity principles:

• Think: Present students with a short, unclear news excerpt. Ask them to individually identify unclear language and note potential revisions for clarity.
• Pair: Have students pair up to discuss their findings and proposed revisions. Encourage them to explain their reasoning and consider their partner’s suggestions.
• Share: Facilitate a class discussion where pairs share their insights and revisions. Highlight effective strategies for improving clarity. Use this opportunity to address any misconceptions.
• Class feedback: Provide feedback on the shared revisions, emphasising the application of clarity principles. Encourage students to reflect on how these principles enhance reader comprehension.
• Revisit principles: Conclude by revisiting Orwell’s six rules and other clarity principles. Reinforce their importance in journalistic writing.

Independent practice

• Provide students with a news article containing unclear language. Ask them to identify and revise unclear sections, applying clarity principles.
• Direct students to a related exercise for additional practice.
• Circulate to observe and support students as needed.

Assignment

Ask students to answer these questions:

• What is one principle of clarity in journalism that you applied today?
• How does clarity in writing affect reader comprehension?
• What’s one question you still have from today’s lesson?

Here are some suggested answers:

Suggested answer to Question 1: Avoiding jargon and using straightforward language.

Suggested answer to Question 2: Clarity ensures that readers can easily understand the information being presented, which maintains accuracy and engagement.

Teacher resources

Differentiation guide

• Advanced learners: Encourage them to explore complex articles with technical jargon. Challenge them to translate these into clear, accessible language while maintaining accuracy. Suggest they analyse the impact of clarity on reader engagement and comprehension in different contexts.
• Striving learners: Provide additional examples of unclear language and clear revisions. Use guided questions to help them identify unclear elements. Offer sentence starters or templates to support their revisions. Pair them with peers for collaborative practice to build confidence.
• Background reading: We recommend trainers read the article ‘For journalists, clarity is as important as accuracy‘ before adapting the lesson plan for their own purposes.

Notable definitions

Clarity: The quality of being easily understood, free from ambiguity, and straightforward in expression. In journalism, clarity ensures that the audience comprehends the information accurately and efficiently.

Jargon: Specialised or technical language used by a particular group, often difficult for outsiders to understand. In journalism, avoiding jargon is crucial to maintain clarity and accessibility for a broad audience.

Active voice: A grammatical structure where the subject performs the action expressed by the verb. Using active voice in journalism enhances clarity by making sentences more direct and easier to understand.

Required materials

• News articles with unclear language for analysis and revision
• Copies of Orwell’s six rules for clear writing
• Writing materials (paper, pens)
• Access to computers or tablets for digital editing (optional)

Lesson summary

• Warm-up
• Direct instruction
• Guided practice
• Assignment

The free teaching tools at the Khan Academy were used in the production of this lesson plan.

Related article

Clarity is as important as accuracy

The post Lesson: Clarity first appeared on Media Helping Media.

Journalists must write clearly as well as accurately using accessible language that the audience can understand.These are a few thoughts (some of them taken from The Economist’s style guide and those of other respected newspapers) for journalists writing and editing copy in English.

Getting the language right:

Clarity equals understanding. If we write clearly, our readers will understand. We will always be accurate, of course, but we will always be clear with it. This takes a great deal of effort, but we will write in language that our readers understand.

It is important not to confuse the use of precise technical, engineering or medical terms, for instance, with accuracy when their use might baffle most readers. Translating arcane or specialist terms faithfully into broader, understandable English maintains accuracy and provides clarity.

Where a specific but little-known term is essential, perhaps in a direct quote that cannot be put into indirect speech, one should take the time to explain what it means.

Basic rules for writers:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or jargon if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

The six points above are from Politics and the English Language, George Orwell, 1946

These six points, including the wry humour of the last, are a good foundation for any writing. The broader subject of the essay is especially relevant to writing news.

Figures of speech:

Clichés: Avoid clichéd and hackneyed expressions.

Some examples are – toe the line, tighten the belt, go the last mile, eleventh-hour reprieve, race against time (in any case an absurdity, it would be a race against the clock), bedside vigil, every parent’s worst nightmare, ticking time bomb, road to recovery – but many more exist everywhere in print every day.

Companies do not “see” profits rise, countries do not see droughts or floods, winter will not see snow, an old man will not see next year, even if he is still alive. Similarly, courts do not hear, they are told.

Short words: “Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all.” – Winston Churchill

Short words are easier to spell and to understand than long words. This is particularly important because it is arrogant to assume that English is the first language of every reader. An Anglo-Saxon word may sound plain, but longer forms, probably with Latin roots, often add pretension rather than nuance.

So prefer buy to purchase, let to permit or allow, take part to participate, show to demonstrate, use to utilise, about to approximately, make to manufacture and so on. The word absquatulate, to mean leave, was invented as a humorous construct in the 19th Century and it illustrates the point well.

Also remember that long words are often euphemisms. A disadvantaged person or an underdeveloped region might be better described as poor, as might a man who is impecunious.

Cut it out:

Adjectives and adverbs: Adjectives and adverbs should describe or modify to add information or refine meaning. They are mostly redundant when used for emphasis, and mawkish or demeaning when used to imply emotion. Grieving relatives are relatives; if among the bereaved you find someone joyous, that person will probably provide the most newsworthy quote.

If a child dies in a bus crash it is gratuitous to smear words such as tragic all over the copy. If a population is wiped out by genocide, let the cold figures convey scale, not your adjectives.

Avoid using the word ironic. Similarly, controversial.

A heavily pregnant woman is pregnant. A leading, highly regarded, influential politician, cleric or writer is probably just a politician, cleric or writer. A key measure is a measure. A senior adviser is an adviser.

Words such as very, major, vital and crucial are almost always redundant.

A safe haven is a haven. Most probably and most especially are probably and especially. “Due to the fact that” and “in spite of the fact that” mean because and although.

A luxury home located in the suburbs is a house in the suburbs.

Adjectives and adverbs are mostly redundant when used for emphasis

What not to cut out:

That: Be careful when removing the word that. Its absence often misleads or confuses a reader for part of a sentence. For instance:

“The construction engineer felt the steel cable, which was 200ft above the gorge, was too slender to support the cable car.”

Only at the end of that sentence do we realise that the construction engineer is expressing a technical opinion, not performing a high-wire act.

Told, suggested, alleged, indicated, insisted, believed, suggested, felt etc all need the word that. Only said can safely do without it.

Be careful also with the position of modifiers. There is a huge difference between saying someone only drinks in the evening, and saying that they drink only in the evening.

Be active:

English works best when it follows its simplest grammatical construction, which is subject, verb, object. “I killed him” is more vivid and direct than “he was killed by me”.

But beware changing “Janet and John were divorced” to “John divorced Janet” unless you know that to have been the case legally. Similarly, beware introducing suggestions of blame, initiative or responsibility: there is a difference between saying “I slept with your wife” and saying “your wife slept with me”.

Jargon and journalese:

According to Collins, jargon is, firstly, “specialised language concerned with a particular subject, culture or profession” and, second, “language characterised by pretentious syntax, vocabulary or meaning”.

An audience is broad, so any jargon in the first sense must be translated into terms that all readers can understand. Jargon in the second sense is just bad writing. Collins’s third and fourth meanings are “gibberish” and “another word for pidgin”.

Much journalese may be blamed on tabloid newspapers, especially their subs. Headlines across short measures have led to overuse of words such as bid, spark, move, hit, blow, top, chief, crisis, drama etc. That language has migrated from headlines to body copy. It is ugly and it lacks precision.

Be temperate in language, especially in headlines. Keep a sense of proportion and recognise that storms and fury are often merely disagreements. This gives writing balance and maturity. The word slam, to mean criticised, should be banned.

Target: The word target, in the sense of aimed at or directed at, is overused. Say attacked, bombed, shot at or blown up if that is the case. The word target is best used as a noun. Targeted used to mean carrying a shield, from the Old French targette, meaning little shield. If you must use target as a verb, do so rarely.

Impact: Do not use impact as a verb, as in the war impacted the economy. The war affected the economy, or better still destroyed or harmed it. Things have an effect on something or are affected by something, or effect some change or other. Things can also have an impact on something, but in all cases it is better to say that they improved matters or made them worse. Impacted means, of a tooth, unable to erupt and, of a fracture, having the broken ends wedged together.

Warn: To warn is a transitive verb and must take an object. The construction “gave warning that” is grammatically acceptable but clumsy and contrived. There is nothing wrong with the word said in nearly all cases. Similarly, avoid cautioned. If you use the word claimed when attributing a quote or some reported speech to someone, bear in mind that it carries the suggestion that the person is not to be believed. Again, said is the straight option.

Labels: Think before using words such as warlord, hardman, strongman, mandarin, guru, supremo, mastermind – and then use another.

Wars are bloody by default, bombings kill people rather than create carnage, if a rocket hits a car we should be surprised not to find twisted and mangled wreckage. Those killed might occasionally be called victims, but never innocent; they are better off as the dead.

People have Aids or cancer, or are cancer or Aids patients. They are never victims, neither do they suffer from their disease. Cancer patients who recover have not won cancer battles.

A remote mountain village is a village in the mountains, which do not need to be called rugged. Not all villages are picturesque, nor are they sleepy. If a meadow were not lush, it would be a field. Hills need not roll, nor suburbs sprawl. An Englishman’s home might be his castle, but his house is never palatial – even if he would like to live in a palace.

Awards ceremonies do not have to glitter. Famous implies fame, so give a person’s name and what they do – if the reader has heard of them then the label is unnecessary. If the reader has not, it is inaccurate.

Respect: If we call someone respected, tell the reader by whom that person is respected. If we call someone defiant, say who or what is being defied.

If we are writing about nanotechnology, gene therapy, cell computing, transgenic breeding, missions to Mars and so forth, the label high-technology, or worse, high-tech, is pointless.

English vs American:

Note: This part is for journalists working for media organisations that use English English as opposed to American English.

Avoid American phrases such as “meet with” or “consult with”. In English, we meet people or consult them, there is no need for a with. Also, the phrase “will likely”, should be “will probably” or “is likely to”.

We play down, not downplay, park in car parks, not parking lots, buy aspirin from pharmacies or chemists, not drugstores, and put our shopping in the boot, not trunk, and to check the oil we lift bonnets, not hoods. We do not go downtown, but to the city or town centre. Home town is two words.

Ex-servicemen are not necessarily veterans and in English we bring up our children and raise our livestock. Gunned down means shot.

One may contest a ruling, but must protest against or appeal against one.

We have lawyers or solicitors, not attorneys. The word lawmaker to mean an elected politician conjures up pictures either of Judge Dredd or New Age nonsense. Use politician, senator, congressman or congresswoman, member of parliament or MP, whichever is appropriate.

A period of time can be from Monday to or until Friday, or from January to or until June, but never Monday through Friday or January through June.

Forthcoming, not upcoming, and prefer before to ahead of.

Facts vs false impressions:

Journalism vs PR: A journalist’s job is to report news, not promote governments or businesses. It is often disingenuous to say that, while in power, political party X reduced unemployment. It is more accurate to say that unemployment fell during party X’s time in power. Similarly with crime, health, inflation and other broad statistics.

Business: When a global supermarket chain says that it is investing $50 million to open a new store and create 300 jobs, it is actually speculating with the money and employing 300 people. Remember that in doing so it may well put scores of smaller shops out of business within 10 miles of its store and more people out of work than it is to employ.

International trade: Similarly, a multinational company setting up in a country with cheap labour is not investing in that region and its people. It is more likely to be receiving government grants or other incentives to relocate, and closing factories elsewhere where wages are higher and existing incentives have run their term. In a few years, it will probably move again for similar reasons.

Forced to: Beware of the phrase “was forced to”. If my car breaks down, I am not forced to walk anywhere. If I am the heir to a throne, I am not forced to divorce my wife because she cannot bear me a son. If a politician changes tack because it is politically expedient to do so, it does not mean that he was in any way forced.

The expression is dangerous because it allows people or organisations to externalise responsibility. A company that sacks a quarter of its workforce so that it can maintain a dividend was not forced to do it, it chose from many options – it is just that a listed company would never countenance any other.

Going forward: Do not use the expression going forward, it means in future or from now (and in a more formal age, henceforth). It is used in company reports and by government spin doctors to give a sense of action.

Community: The word community is becoming especially misused. The international community is a term bandied about, usually by Western governments, to give the impression that their enemy of the day is completely isolated.

Rarely does the whole world gang up on one country. All too often the West gangs up on other countries and/or cultures and uses the phrase international community to gloss over the cracks; it also suggests that the dissenters are of no importance.

Do not let US or Western hegemonic interests claim to speak for the world when they do not – the word community in a political sense implies agreement. Use some, other or many countries instead – if possible say which countries or interest bloc.

Similarly, ask yourself what the Muslim community means, or the Christian, Jewish, gay, business communities etc. Be specific.

Peace process: Another weasel expression in vogue is peace process. Ask yourself whether in a particular case there is any process; consider using talks or negotiations – or stress the lack thereof.

Regime labels: Do not label a country’s government a regime, or leftist regime, just because all Western media seem to have bought into the message emanating from the White House. A few years ago, would you have referred to the right-wing, fundamental Christian Bush regime, rather than George Bush’s administration?

Intros and summaries:

Keep them succinct – there will be plenty of room for detailed attribution and expansion on the whys and wherefores in subsequent paragraphs – and as active and current as possible.

So one would change this wire intro:

“Opec oil producers expect to keep output close to the limit when they meet Wednesday to bring prices within the comfort zone for consumers and fill supply gaps in Nigeria and Iraq. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ policy committee has said it will advise ministers to stick with today’s 28 million barrels per day ceiling despite forecasts for lower demand in spring.”

To this:

“Opec expects to maintain high oil output to avoid large price increases at the pumps and to make up for shortfalls in Nigeria and Iraq. The cartel of oil-exporting countries meets on Wednesday and its policy committee has said that it will advise maintaining output at 28 million barrels a day, which is close to the maximum, despite a forecast fall in demand in spring.”

Or this wire intro:

“The bodies of 18 men were found bound and blindfolded in a minibus in west Baghdad late on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. It was unclear how the men died. Earlier reports said the vehicle was a pick-up truck but the ministry said it was a minibus.”

To this:

“The bodies of 18 men have been found bound and blindfolded in a minibus in west Baghdad. It was unclear how the men died, but the interior ministry said that the bodies were found on Tuesday night. Earlier reports had said the vehicle was a pick-up truck, but a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday that it was a minibus.”

Dates: Pin down the dates of events after the first paragraph, unless the date is an important point of the news. But make sure that the day is put in the right place, which is usually as far back in the sentence as possible, or the sentence will sound Germanic.

Headlines: Also make sure that the more interesting aspects of an intro come before the humdrum. So the US president would not have been in a car with the Indian prime minister on a visit to Mumbai when a bomb exploded in a building 20 metres away. A bomb would have exploded 20 metres from the US president and Indian prime minister in Mumbai.

That one was visiting the other and that they were in a car should be explained later.

Question marks: Try to avoid using question marks in headlines; journalists are supposed to provide answers, not speculation. Also avoid them in cross-heads.

Building blocks of a report and ordering copy:

What, why, when, how, where and who are the cornerstones of every story. The why may well be the thrust of a report, but do not neglect the others.

Angle: Choose your angle. In a report about a car crash, the news might be who was driving, how many crashes they have had previously, who the passengers were, where the car or cars were, the make or model of vehicles involved, how many people were killed or even how long it took an ambulance to arrive.

Significant facts may well be buried many paragraphs down in notes or raw copy, a journalist’s job is to find the best angle and write or reorder accordingly.

Letting the copy breathe:

Because journalists often rely on wire copy for many stories, one must guard against the breathless adjectival strings inherent in Reuterspeak.

This is a typical sample of wire copy written in December:

A federal court in Richmond, Virginia delayed on November 30 Padilla’s transfer to a Miami, Florida prison demanding the government explain why it no longer viewed Padilla as an “enemy combatant”.

It would be better rendered:

Last month, a federal court delayed Padilla’s transfer to a prison in Miami, Florida. The court, in Richmond, Virginia, called on the government to explain why it no longer viewed him as an “enemy combatant”.

Lazy constructs: We should also avoid lazy constructs that give places ownership of something. London’s West End, for instance, should be the West End of London, and New York’s Bronx should be the Bronx in New York or the Bronx, New York. The general idea also applies to a Paris apartment (an apartment in Paris), a Mumbai lawyer (a lawyer in Mumbai) and so on.

By Vince Ryan

Questions

• What is the primary goal of writing clearly?
• How should terms that might confuse readers be handled?
• What is the significance of George Orwell’s six points for writers?
• Why should journalists avoid using clichés and hackneyed expressions?
• How does the text differentiate between short words and longer words with Latin roots?
• How should a journalist use adjectives and adverbs for emphasis?
• How should journalists handle using the word “that” in writing?
• What is the text’s recommendation regarding the use of active versus passive voice?
• What is the best way of dealing with jargon?
• What does the text say about the use of the word “community” in a political context?

Answers

• The primary goal of writing clearly is to ensure that readers understand the content.
• Translating technical terms into broader, understandable English maintains accuracy and provide clarity.
• George Orwell’s six points are considered a good foundation for any writing, especially relevant to writing news.
• Journalists should avoid using clichés because they are overused and lack originality.
• Short words are easier to spell and understand, while longer words with Latin roots often add pretension rather than nuance.
• Adjectives and adverbs are mostly redundant when used for emphasis and can be mawkish or demeaning.
• Journalists should be careful when removing the word “that,” as its absence can mislead or confuse readers.
• Journalists should use the active voice because it is more vivid and direct than the passive voice.
• Jargon is defined as specialised language or pretentious syntax, and it should be translated into terms that all readers can understand.
• It’s best if journalists avoid the use of the word “community” in a political context because it implies agreement when it may not exist.

Lesson plan for trainers

If you are a trainer of journalists we have a free lesson plan: ‘Clarity in journalism‘ which you are welcome to download and adapt for your own purposes.

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