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It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

William Safire

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William Safire
Age: 79 †
Born: 1929
Born: December 17
Died: 2009
Died: September 27
Author
Columnist
Journalist
Writer
New York City
New York
William Lewis Safire
Long
Behooves
Never
Superlatives
Oxymoron
Avoid
Word
Language
Use
Writing
Diminutive

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At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.
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President Reagan is a rhetorical roundheels, as befits a politician seeking empathy with his audience.
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I'm a right-wing pundit and have been for many years.
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If America cannot win a war in a week, it begins negotiating with itself.
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Dangling punch lines to forgotten stories remain in the language like the smile of the Cheshire cat.
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If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.
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It is in the nature of tyranny to deride the will of the people as the voice of the mob, and to denounce the cry for freedom as the roar of anarchy.
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Sometimes I know the meaning of a word but am tired of it and feel the need for an unfamiliar, especially precise or poetic term, perhaps one with a nuance that flatters my readership's exquisite sensitivity.
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Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. And don't start a sentence with a conjugation.
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English is a stretch language one size fits all.
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Avoid overuse of 'quotation “marks.”'
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Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.
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George Washington had a tough second term.
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To communicate, put your words in order give them a purpose use them to persuade, to instruct, to discover, to seduce.
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Adapt your style, if you wish, to admit the color of slang or freshness of neologism, but hang tough on clarity, precision, structure, grace.
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Previously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
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A reader should be able to identify a column without its byline or funny little picture on top purely by look or feel, or its turgidity ratio.
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I welcome new words, or old words used in new ways, provided the result is more precision, added color or greater expressiveness.
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