The ancient Greek philosopher
Callimachus is quoted as saying "Big book, big evil" (μέγα βιβλίον μέγα κακόν,
mega biblion, mega kakon), rejecting the
epic style of
poetry in favor of his own. Many style guides advise against excessive verbosity. While it may be rhetorically useful verbose parts in communications are sometimes referred to as "fluff" or "fuzz". For instance,
William Strunk, an American professor of English advised in 1918 to "Use the active voice: Put statements in positive form; Omit needless words." In
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926)
Henry Watson Fowler says, "It is the second-rate writers, those intent rather on expressing themselves prettily than on conveying their meaning clearly, & still more those whose notions of style are based on a few misleading rules of thumb, that are chiefly open to the allurements of elegant variation," Fowler's term for the over-use of
synonyms. Contrary to Fowler's criticism of several words being used to name the same thing in English
prose, in many other languages, including
French, it is considered a good writing style. An inquiry into the
2005 London bombings found that verbosity can be dangerous if used by emergency services. It can lead to delay that could cost lives. A 2005 study from the
psychology department of
Princeton University found that using long and obscure words does not make people seem more intelligent. Dr. Daniel M. Oppenheimer did research which showed that students rated short, concise texts as being written by the most intelligent authors. But those who used long words or complex
font types were seen as less intelligent. In contrast to advice against verbosity, some editors and style experts suggest that maxims such as "omit needless words" In nonfiction writing, experts suggest that both concision and clarity are important: Elements that do not improve communication should be removed without rendering a style that is "too terse" to be clear, as similarly advised by law professor Neil Andrews on the writing and reasoning of legal decisions. In such cases, attention should be paid to a conclusion's underlying argument so that the language used is both simple and precise. A number of writers advise against excessive verbosity in fiction. For example,
Mark Twain (1835–1910) wrote "generally, the fewer the words that fully communicate or evoke the intended ideas and feelings, the more effective the communication." Similarly
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961), the 1954
Nobel laureate for literature, defended his concise style against a charge by
William Faulkner, the 1949 laureate, that he "had never been known to use a word that might send the reader to the dictionary." Hemingway responded by saying, "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use."
George Orwell mocked logorrhea in "
Politics and the English Language" (1946) by taking verse (9:11) from the book of
Ecclesiastes in the
King James Version of the
Bible: and rewriting it as In contrast, though, some authors warn against pursuing concise writing for its own sake. Literary critic
Sven Birkerts, for instance, notes that authors striving to reduce verbosity might produce prose that is unclear in its message or dry in style. "There's no vivid world where every character speaks in one-line, three-word sentences", he notes. There is a danger that the avoidance of prolixity can produce writing that feels unnatural or sterile. Physicist
Richard Feynman has spoken out against verbosity in scientific writing. Wordiness is common in informal or playful conversation, lyrics, and comedy. People with
Asperger syndrome and
autism often present with verbose speech. ==See also==