My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?): Old-School Ways to Sharpen Your English

W
ILLIAM
Z
INSSE R
A waste of space
Smart Alec: How come needless to say is always followed by something being
said?
Try  not  to  punctuate  your  speech  (and  certainly  don’t  litter  your  writing)  with
verbal apologies such as and that sort of thing , as it were , do you know what I
mean? , to all intents and purposes , needless to say. Nine times out of ten, they
will  add  nothing.  Mark  Twain  had  it  right  when  he  said,  ‘Substitute  “damn”
every  time  you’re  inclined  to  write  “very”;  your  editor  will  delete  it  and  the
writing will be just as it should be.’ The same applies to these empty phrases.
Many of us also emasculate powerful words by using them in a trivial way.
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What  we  mean  is,  don’t  use  awfully  ,  fearfully  ,  terribly  or  horribly  when  you

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mean very  .  In  formal  writing,  keep  these  words  for  when  they  are  needed:  He
was horribly scarred by the accident .