LEND ME YOUR EAR: TOO MANY WORDS SPOIL THE THOUGHT

Is there anyone among our readers who isn't familiar with "Brevity is the soul of wit?" For the record, it was Shakespeare who put these words in the mouth of a boring nobleman named Polonius, in Hamlet. Not that it matters. Harry Shaw, author of that excellent guide to problem words and expressions, wrote: "Brevity is more than the soul of wit: it is well nigh impossible."

Most of us use more words than we need, but to economize and still achieve clarity, declares Shaw, is to reach "a standard of perfection unattained by ordinary mortals." He has three suggestions for reducing wordiness, all of which will ring a bell with readers: 1) Avoid repeating ideas already expressed; 2) Do not use four words where one will do; 3) Use direct words instead of circumlocution.

Shaw also has much to say about the use of cliches in speech and writing for and against. But first things first. An amusing example of a rule regarding repetition redundancy or tautology came from Hugh Downs: "Avoid redundancy, since said repetitive redundancy subjects the hearer to many unnecessary repetitions of phrases repeated over and over again." You can say that again, Mr. Downs but spare us.

Such advice, we grant, is sorely needed on Capitol Hill and at political and educational gatherings. Tune in on one or the other, and count the times you hear "the fact of the matter is", "as a matter of fact", "a certain length of time", "advance planning", "after the conclusion of", "combine together", "cooperate together", "join together", "head up (committees)", "reduce down (expenses)", "divide out", "separate out", "resume again", "recur again", "return back", "completely unanimous" to name only a few.

A telephone chat with a friend everyone calls Bill has just netted us a redundant nugget he'd found on a can of insecticide: "Kills bugs dead for 80 days." To kill dead is no trick, but what happens after 80 days? Is there a bug heaven and a set time for the deserving to come alive and take wing?

In yesterday's issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a special section on the importance of organizing featured a picture of a newly-organized closed. Reading the scoop beneath, we learned a woman's husband "gave it to her as a gift." To give as a gift is redundant or was this to show the husband hadn't meant it as a hint?

An unnamed administrator of an unidentified institution of learning, according to hearsay, was asked whether he thought rules should be followed. He replied: "The implementation of sanctions will inevitably eventuate in subsequent repercussions." All he meant was "Yes," but how could anyone tell?

Everyone has been guilty of circumlocution, better known as beating around the bush. Sometimes it's necessary, to keep from hurting someone or to save our own skin. Other times, we are unable to get our thoughts together on the spur of the moment. Members of Crossfire and the Capitol Gang are expert at avoiding direct answers lest they be quoted or misquoted. "You didn't answer my question" is a sentence we hear regularly on panel discussions of this type.

Sometimes we have to speak in positives to underplay the negatives. A comment about the mass destruction that Desert Storm caused while liberating Kuwait illustrates an effort to soften: "War has never been environmental-friendly." The speaker meant war destroys civilization. Then there was the frightened M.D. who conceded to his accusers: "I would acknowledge there has been problems in the surgical procedures in the hospital." Let us ignore the singular verb; the surgeon had his mind on his need to share the blame.

As we have stated in earlier columns in discussing cliches, if they hadn't been apt and expressive to begin with, they would never have become cliches. Many come from the Bible, Shakespeare, and other great literature. Everyone knows "Love is blind", "to be or not to be", "vanity of vanities", "cast the first stone", "burn the candle at both ends," even if the sources are unknown. We also know and use without considering how jaded they sound cliches such as bats in the belfry, chip off the old block, cart before the horse, checkered career you name it, we've used it. And in so doing, we've managed to diminish our style.

Perhaps, if we worked a little harder, we could come up with a phrase so original and descriptive that our efforts would also become cliches!