elegant variation

elegant variation
elegant variation
is the name Fowler (1926) gave to a celebrated article, nearly six columns long, on misguided avoidance of repetition which leads the user into stylistic traps that are anything but elegant, such as using women and ladies, cases and instances, or have, possess, and own in parallel uses in the same sentence, for example The total number of farming properties is 250,000; of these only 800 have more than 600 acres; 1,600 possess between 300 and 600 acres, while 116,000 own less than eight acres apiece. Another kind of variation is represented by the sentence We much regret to say that there were very regrettable incidents at both the mills. Although he found fault with Thackeray (careering during the season from one great dinner of twenty covers to another of eighteen guests), Fowler's main targets were ‘minor novelists and reporters’. A modern type of elegant (or not so elegant) variation occurs frequently in journalism, and involves the substitution of a general description for a specific name, for example:

• Mr Hume and his wife Pat were guests at a birthday party in New York, organised by the SDLP, at which the Nobel peace prize winner was presented with a framed tribute from President Clinton —Irish News, 2007.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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