Long considered the scourge of good writing, the adjective recently got another public flogging by Alexander McCall Smith in this Wall Street Journal article. Sure, most college students are guilty of inserting redundant, Thesaurus-aided descriptions to reach an essay’s minimum word count, but everyone from Voltaire to Steven King has agreed upon the danger of overusing this seductive part of speech. Although we’re not suggesting that linguistic minimalism should be the gold standard, it’s well-worth heeding the anti-adjective advice of these literary greats. … Read More