Category Archives: writing

All ___ are not ___: a common statement that’s nearly always wrong

Reading, Writing, Research Posted on by  

Am I the only person annoyed with this linguistic atrocity? Do a Google search some time on “all ___ are not”, filling in the blank with any common plural noun. Or search “all ____ is not,” filling in the blank with a collective noun. You’ll find statements like All women are not a size 2. All teenagers are not brats. All paper is not 8 1/2 x 11. All coffee is not espresso. These sentences make a statement in the negative about all women, teenagers, paper, or coffee. And they are all false statements. Some women are a size 2. Some teenagers are brats. Lots of paper (in this country, anyway) is  8 1/2 x 11. Some coffee is espresso. Here is what the writers probably meant: Not all women are a size 2. Not all teenagers are brats. Not all paper is 8 1/2 x 11. Not all coffee is espresso. Instead of creating an overly broad generalization, this construction negates one. These statements are correct. It’s harder to argue with a statement like “all women are not the same,” partly because it’s so vague that the answer “but some women are the same” does not obviously falsify it. … Continue reading →

On writing quickly and well

Reading, Writing, Research Posted on by  

As an academic writer, I have the luxury of time to develop ideas, do research, draft an article or book chapter, and polish the prose before submitting my work to an editor. As a blogger and writer for online article sites, I must write and publish multiple articles every day. Part of the business of online writing includes reading and commenting on other people’s blogs and articles, and I have seen a lot of clumsy writing and poor spelling. It’s hard to understand the poor spelling, since now even the most rudimentary word processors have spelling checkers. I hope I can offer some help in improving the writing with these two things I try to keep in mind as I write my first drafts: Make sure “this” or “that” do not stand alone as the subject of a sentence “This” and “that” are adjectives. Ask yourself “this what?” or “that what?” The answer to that question is probably the word you want for your subject (or object, for that matter). The strongest, clearest writing comes from the choice of strong nouns and verbs. At best, choosing a vague adjective instead of a noun makes the sentence dull and uninteresting. It … Continue reading →