Orwell Watch #22: the ways in which we abuse our language

Indulge me a little on this one.

I was at a Stanford seminar today, and noted once again how often the phrase “the ways in which” comes up.  Is it just me, or is this simply a space-filling way to say “how”?

Try it.  Google “the ways in which” and you can witness all sorts of tormented uses of the English language.  In most cases, the idea sounds simpler and a lot more straightforward if you simply substitute “how.”

Sometimes the phrase can be killed entirely. “There are many ways in which adults can effectively support and extend speech, language and communication development in children,” reads one Google entry.  Delete “in which” and the sentence is fine, saving two words.

Here’s another: “In order to analyse the ways in which universities can take action to improve social mobility, the report breaks down the life-cycle of students into four stages …”  The use of “how” is more succinct.  And as a bonus prize, the writer can kill the first two words, “In order,” which also pad the sentence unnecessarily. That’s a net savings of five words.  That is, “In order to …”  can usually be effectively chopped to “To…”

Next, let’s tackle that other clumsy formation, “The fact that…,” which often doesn’t refer to a “fact” at all.

I’m editing interview transcripts tonight and I’m cranky.  Can you tell?

Author: Cynthia Haven

Cynthia Haven has written for The Times Literary Supplement, The Nation, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, World Literature Today, and other publications. Her work has also appeared in Le Monde, La Repubblica, The Kenyon Review, Quarterly Conversation, The Georgia Review, Civilization, and others. She has been a Milena Jesenská Journalism Fellow with the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna. Peter Dale in Conversation with Cynthia Haven was published in London, 2005. Her Czestaw Mitosz: Conversations was published in 2006; Joseph Brodsky: Conversations in 2003; An Invisible Rope: Portraits of Czestaw Mitosz was published in 2011 with Ohio University Press / Swallow Press. She is currently a visiting scholar at Stanford. Her biography René Girard, A Life will be published next year. Join me at twitter: @chaven View all posts by Cynthia Haven