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Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?

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
Straight
Available
Quite
Use
Right
Writing
Noun
Nouns

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It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
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Never feel guilty about reading, it's what you do to do your job.
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Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight.
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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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Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.
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When your government, employer, landlord, merchant, banker and local sports team gang up to picture, digitize and permanently record your every activity, you are placed under unprecedented control.
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At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.
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Do not be taken in by 'insiderisms.' Fledgling columnists, eager to impress readers with their grasp of journalistic jargon, are drawn to such arcane spellings as 'lede.' Where they lede, do not follow.
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The perfect Christmas gift for a sportscaster, as all fans of sports clichés know, is a scoreless tie.
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Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.
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I'm willing to zap conservatives when they do things that are not libertarian.
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English is a stretch language one size fits all.
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When duty calls, that is when character counts.
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The most fun in breaking a rule is in knowing what rule you're breaking.
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Took me a while to get to the point today, but that is because I did not know what the point was when I started.
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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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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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What a joy it is to see really professional media manipulation.
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Have a definite opinion.
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A book should have an intellectual shape and a heft that comes with dealing with a primary subject.
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