Nuts and Bolts: short cuts.

I've been going through George Orwell's rules for writing and this is number three.

If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

Well, that's just simple manners. No one should have to waste time trudging through ill-considered garbage.

Actually, though, I think even this rule could be shorter: OMIT UNNEEDED WORDS.

And so I'd better be going, then.

Word To Use Today: cut. Rather sweetly, the word cut has one of the longest entries in the dictionary. The word is probably of Scandinavian origin: the Norwegian kutte means to cut, and the Icelandic kuti is a small knife.