indorse it."

Next, let us, when we may, reduce phrases and even clauses to a word. Thus
the clause at the beginning and the phrase at the close of the following
sentence constitute sheer verbiage: "Men who have let their temper get the
better of them are often in a mood to do harm to somebody." The sentence
tells us nothing that may not be told in five words: "Angry men are often
dangerous."

Finally, let us substitute phrases or clauses for unnecessary sentences.
The following series of independent assertions contains avoidable
repetitions: "One morning I was riding on the subway to my work. It was
always my custom to ride to my work on the subway. This morning I met
Harry Blake." The full thought may better be embodied in a single
sentence: "One morning, while I was, as usual, riding on the subway to my
work, I met Harry Blake."

By applying these instructions to any page at hand--one from your own
writing, one from a letter some friend has sent you, one from a book or
magazine--you will often be able to strike out many of the words without
at all impairing the meaning. Another means of acquiring succinct
expression is to practice the composition of telegrams and cable messages.
You will of course lessen the cost by eliminating every word that can
possibly be spared. On the other hand, you must bear it in mind that your
punctuation will not be transmitted, and that the recipient must be
absolutely safeguarded against reading together words meant to be
separated or separating words meant to be read together. That is, your
message must be both concise and unmistakably clear.

EXERCISE - Wordiness II

1. Condense the editorial (Appendix 1) by eliminating unnecessary words
and finding briefer equivalents for roundabout expressions.

2. Try to condense similarly the Parable of the Sower (Appendix 3) and the
Seven Ages of Man (Appendix 4). (The task will largely or altogether
baffle you, but will involve minute study of tersely written passages.)

3. Condense the following:

A man whose success in life was due solely to his own efforts rose in his
place and addressed the man who presided over the meeting.

A girl who sat in the seat behind me giggled in an irritating manner.

We heard the wild shriek of the locomotive. Any sound in that savage
region seemed more terrible than it would in civilized surroundings. So as
we listened to the shriek of the locomotive, it sounded terrible too.

I heard what kind of