Colloquial Expressions
I spend so much time immersed in academic writing I really notice colloquialisms (saying something that isn't even close to literal, like kick the bucket).
I got a real kick out of talking to my uncle last night. Here's part of our conversation, just try and guess what we were talking about:
Uncle: "Well, we aired it out for a bit there."
Me: "Sounds like a lot of fun."
Uncle: "It was, it was, but now we're going to hold it close."
Any guesses?
We were talking about how he and my aunt and been traveling a lot lately ("aired it out") and that now they were going to stay home for awhile ("hold it close").
Academic writing, of course, would prefer we jettison the colloquialisms and just say things plainly. Not as much fun, right? When in doubt ask yourself whether what you've written could be translated literally into another language and still hold its intended meaning. If not, rewrite. See APA p. 69 for the full rule.
I got a real kick out of talking to my uncle last night. Here's part of our conversation, just try and guess what we were talking about:
Uncle: "Well, we aired it out for a bit there."
Me: "Sounds like a lot of fun."
Uncle: "It was, it was, but now we're going to hold it close."
Any guesses?
We were talking about how he and my aunt and been traveling a lot lately ("aired it out") and that now they were going to stay home for awhile ("hold it close").
Academic writing, of course, would prefer we jettison the colloquialisms and just say things plainly. Not as much fun, right? When in doubt ask yourself whether what you've written could be translated literally into another language and still hold its intended meaning. If not, rewrite. See APA p. 69 for the full rule.
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