 | This is a humorousessay onconcise, uncluttered writing that respects the reader's intelligence. It containshumorous advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors and isn't meant to be taken seriously. This is not an encyclopedia article or one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines and may not representcommunity consensus. |
 | This page in a nutshell: ThePrinciple of least astonishment notwithstanding, strive to omit obvious details. |
%2c_Samsonagh_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1599128.jpg)
Portions of this page are bestviewed in desktop.
Sometimes editors clutter their prose with pedestrian details that the reader likely already knows or would naturally assume. Rather than informing readers, this wastes their time and dulls their attention.
The following are examples of articles belaboring the routine and obvious, at times painfully:
At the end of play, points are tallied upand the pieces can be thrown again or stored in a container for another use.
Some lead joints in stained glass windows meltedin the heat of the fire.
An area of over 160 hectares (400 acres) was completely destroyed by the explosion ... Stoves and lamps overturnedby the force of the blastsparked fires throughout Halifax, particularly in the North End, where entire city blocks were caught up in the inferno, trapping residents inside their houses.
Electricity is hazardous
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. isan American politician andthe president-elect of the United States.
They created a distraction which caused the tiger to turn towards the officers, who shot and killed it.After the shooting,officials removed Tatiana's head, paws, tail and gastric contents for examination.
October 28, 2016:American Airlines Flight 383, aBoeing 767-300ER flying fromChicago toMiami, was accelerating for takeoff when the right enginefailed and erupted in flamescaught fire.
The crewaborted the takeoff andinitiated an emergency evacuation.
Although airline policy is that once the doors are closed they are not to be reopened,the doors were reopened andDoty was allowed to board.
Of the 45 individuals on board, 44 were dead when rescuers reached the crash site. One passenger, a 27-year-old man fromEvanston, Illinois,was alive when rescuers found him in the wreckage, but hedied of internal injuries at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital inCenterville, Iowa, an hour and a half after being rescued.
Whitman was reportedly the youngest personin the worldever to become an Eagle Scout at that time.
UC Berkeley researchers along with Berkeley Lab have discovered or co-discovered 16 chemical elementsof the periodic table– more than any other universityin the world.
The Club of Rome raised considerable public attention with its reportLimits to Growth, which has sold 30 million copies in more than 30 translations, making it the best-selling environmental book inworldhistory.
On July 23, the last night before splashdownon Earth, the three astronauts made a television broadcast
In Washington, D.C, General George Marshall is informed that three of the four Ryan brothers have been killed within the last week, and that their mother is about to be notifiedof their deaths.
.jpg)
The most commonly consumed type of citrus juice isorange juice, which as the name implies, is extracted fromoranges.
The theorem was first proved by Marshall H. Stone (1936), and thus named in his honor.
New York City | |
|---|---|
 Clockwise, from top:Midtown Manhattan,Times Square, theUnisphere, theBrooklyn Bridge,Lower Manhattan withOne World Trade Center,Central Park, theheadquarters of the United Nations, and theStatue of Liberty |
On December 15, 1944, Miller was to fly from the United Kingdom to Paris,France,to make arrangements to move his band there.
TheIrish Boundary Commissionwas a commission whichmet in 1924–25 to decide on the precise delineation of the border between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.
Oliver Cromwell's head is the head ofOliver Cromwell.
TheNational Archives of Belize arethenational archives ofBelize. They arelocated inBelmopan.
On June 27, 2014,GovernorBobby Jindal proposed that LSU erect a statue of Maravich outside thePete Maravich Assembly Center, which already bore the basketball star's name.
[[Governor of Louisiana|Governor]] while you're at it.The Dry Creek Archeological Siteis an archaeological site
In 1935, he played the historical role ofJoseph Meister inThe Story of Louis Pasteurabout the life of scientistLouis Pasteur.
Islam in Swedenis the practice ofIslam inSweden, as well as historical ties between Sweden and theIslamic world. Viking contact with Islamdates back to the 7th–10th centuries, when theVikings traded with Muslims during theIslamic Golden Age.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North Dakota refers toThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)and its members inNorth Dakota. The church'sheld its first congregation in North Dakotawas organizedin 1919.
He signedtax cutlegislation which cut tax rates for individuals and businesses.
TheSociety for the History of Alchemy and Chemistryis a society devoted to the history of alchemy and chemistry. The Societywas founded as theSociety for the Study of Alchemy and Early Chemistry in 1935.
After she replaces a missing arm and leg withhi-techcybernetic prostheses, mercenaries led by the psychokinetic Akan raid the ship.
The bunk or bunks above the lowest one may have rails to keep the user from rolling outand falling to the floorwhile sleeping.
Very large volcanic eruptions can cause destruction close to the volcano ...
Hot Springs officially changed its name on March 31, 1950, and the program was broadcast from there the following evening, April 1
The islands were first used as a whaling baseby whalers who sailed far north in pursuit of whalesin the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned.
Ted Fujita died in hisChicago home on November 19, 1998.[1]After his death, tTheAmerican Meteorological Society (AMS) held the "Symposium on The Mystery of Severe Storms: A Tribute to the Work of T. Theodore Fujita" during its 80th Annual Meeting in January 2000
On June 28, air activity was high on both sides as Finnish bombers and German Stukas pounded the Soviet formations.The Soviet Air Force also attacked from the air and hit the staff of the Finnish Armored Division hard with bombers from the Soviet 276th Bomber Division.and the Soviet 276th Bomber Division hit the Finnish troops hard.
The surname "Horvat",without the "h"still exists and is the most common surname in Croatia or the Croatian diaspora.
Chloe (alsoChloë,Chloé) is a feminine namefor girls.
Rathbonesuccessfullygraduated from Phillips Academy in 1888, from Yale University in 1892, and from the Law Department at the University of Wisconsin in 1894.
Stokes Croft isthe name ofa road in Bristol, England.
Stokes Croft is what the name of a road in Bristol, England is called.
Here is an image of thefront housesof Beaumaris.
Dismantled viaduct over the River Eden.This photograph was from a similar position to the first photograph
The aluminum producing companyAluminium of Greece has its production facilities in the coastal village Agios Nikolaos.
The Caribou Public Library is aCarnegie library. Designed in theRomanesque Revival style by local architect Schuyler C. Page, it was built in 1911-1912 with a $10,000 grantfromindustrialistAndrew Carnegie.
She lived for 40 years inIsrael, before migrating to London in 1986, where she resided until her death, and at the age of 110 was the world's oldest knownHolocaust survivor untilYisrael Kristal was recognized as such. Kristalwas also a Holocaust survivor, andwas born two months before Herz-Sommer.
From 1988 to 2015, they had13 children total;ten daughters and three sons.
His death was reported five days lateron 12 July.
When DePaul won the 1945 NIT, Mikan was namedMost Valuable Player for scoring 120 points in three games, including 53 points in a 97–53 win overRhode Island; his 53-point total equaled the score of the entire Rhode Island team.
... resulted in the destruction of the rocket. The crew, NASA astronautNick Hague and Russian cosmonautAleksey Ovchinin, escaped safelyand successfully.
About four hours after the blaze broke out, one of the three remaining cupolas had been damaged but the fire was contained.A department spokesman later confirmed that the fire had been extinguished.
Officially founded shortly afterwards in 1869, the "Spitzedersche Privatbank"(English: Spitzeder Private Bank)quickly grew from an insider tip to a large company.
Portions of an unfinished sequel, "The Children of the Owl and the Pussycat" were published first posthumously, during 1938.How the pair procreated is unspecified.
Turner syndrome is not usually inheritedfrom a person's parents.
About 7.5% of cases areinheritedfrom a person's parentsin anautosomal dominant manner.
Phenylketonuria is a genetic disorderinheritedfrom a person's parents.
Aristotle proposed in the 4th century BC that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped insubterraneancaves.
The incident made headlinesin the pressand Heifetz defiantly announced that he would not stop playing the Strauss.
After their marriage, Celia became pregnantwith a child.
In early January 1974, Corona's wife, Gloria, filed for divorce in Fairfield, citing irreconcilable differences.
She is a supporter ofSunderland AFCin football.
Harald Quandt's five daughters inherited about 1.5 billion Deutsche Mark ($760 million, €585 million) and later increased their wealth through the Harald Quandt Holding GmbH, a German-based family investment company and trustnamed after their father.
On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., wasviolentlyattacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump.
Gabriel had received a bone-anchored hearing aid at age 6,which allowed him to hear.
Since 1961, over 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, representing 139differentcountries.
She had wanted to be a pediatricianwhen she grew up.
The rifle has a height-adjustable cheek rest, which can be positioned for right- or left-handed shooting, i.e., it is suitable for both right- and left-handed shooters.
Section title:The Onion'sinfluenceon the real world
The various symbols on the flag were each chosendeliberatelyto represent a special aspect of Cajun culture and history.
The sentry he had shot several times was wounded.
The first Lantos Human Rights Prize, named in the congressman's memory,...
TheIranian[2] andRussian governments[3] have publicly supported the Syrian government's position and have regularly criticized the American presence in southeastern Syriawhereas theUnited States government states that its presence at al-Tanf is legal.
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of animal and humanillnessesin whichfever andhemorrhage are caused by aviral infection.
Released from the hospital where he was taken after hisfailedsuicide attempt, Ōba becomes amorphine addict.
The name "Apollo Justice" was decided in collaboration between the Japanese and American divisions of Capcom [...]The name refers to how Apollo fights for justice.
Carder is interrupted by the GameFuna representative, who returns to Carder's house and shoots him in the head,presumably killing him. The final shot of the game is of Carder bleeding out on the floor [...]
The Barbenheimer phenomenon is an instance ofcounterprogramming, a marketing strategy in which a tonally different film is released on the same day as a major film(in this case, Warner Bros.'Barbie in contrast to Universal'sOppenheimer)
OtherTrumpcritics in the media expressed similar opinions.
The company claimed that it had devisedblood tests that required very small amounts of blood and that could be performed rapidly and accurately, all using compact automated devices which the company had developed. These claims werelaterproven to be false.
On the other hand, some cultures lay down strict rules as to the particular dancesin which, for example, men, women, and childrenpeople may or must participate.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moves | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECO | C27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Count Dracula | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Vienna Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unlike the show it is based on, contestants do not die when eliminated.
Pinkplastic flamingos are a commonlawn ornament in theUnited Statesmade ofplastic.
It will also serve as qualifying forthe 2024 Olympic tournament, with the champion qualifying.
Russia ... is atranscontinentalcountry spanningEastern Europe andNorthern Asia.
In 1986, she published her best selling memoirBoard Meetings in the Bath: How We Opened Knebworth House to the Publicon her experience opening Knebworth to the public.
Turbulent blood flow is not smooth.
Axolotlsshould notmay be confused with the larval stage of the closely related tiger salamander (A. tigrinum), which are widespread in much of North America and occasionally become paedomorphic.
In May 2012, members of the Illinois House were given just 20 minutes to review and vote on a 200-page pension overhaul bill that had been revised at the last minute.Displeased with the situation,Bost expressed his anger on the House floor, saying, "These damn bills that come out of here all the damn time...come out here at the last second, and I've got to try figure out how to vote for my people!...Enough! I feel like somebody trying to be released from Egypt! Let my people go!"
Dreyfus died in Paris aged 75, on 12 July 1935, exactly 29 years after his exoneration. Two days later, his funeral cortège passed thePlace de la Concorde through the ranks of troops assembled for theBastille Day national holiday (14 July 1935). He was interred in theCimetière du Montparnasse, Paris.The inscription on his tombstone is in French.
Dreyfus died in Paris aged 75, on 12 July 1935, exactly 29 years after his exoneration. Two days later, his funeral cortège passed thePlace de la Concorde through the ranks of troops assembled for theBastille Day national holiday(14 July 1935). He was interred in theCimetière du Montparnasse, Paris.
In 2013, Peter Hendy, who was then the Commissioner of Transport for London, was accused of engaging in a nine-monthextramaritalaffair with a call girl.
"You Don't Want to Know" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American TV dramaHouse and the seventy-eighth episode overall. It aired on 20 November 2007. Notably, in this episode thedifferential diagnosis is confirmed aslupus despite the fact that 'It's not lupus - it'snever lupus' is a phrase often used to the point ofcatchphrase by the eponymous Dr. Gregory House.It's lupus this time.
"All train services on Taketoyo Line stop at every station, with trains running every 15–30 minutes on weekdays and 30–40 minutes on weekends,stopping at all stations in the line."
Once inside, the pairrevealed their true intentions,tied up the guards, and spent over an hour stealing art from the museum's collection, which they loaded into their vehicle.
He then drove to a hardware store, where he purchased a Universal M1 carbine, two additional ammunition magazines and eight boxes of ammunition, telling the cashier he planned to hunt wild hogs. At a gun shop he purchased four further carbine magazines, six additional boxes of ammunition, and a can of gun cleaning solvent. He then drove to Sears, where he purchased a Sears Model 60 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun before returning homewith his purchases.
| Murder of Jo Cox | |
|---|---|
| Location | Market Street,Birstall, West Yorkshire, England |
| Date | 16 June 2016 |
Attack type | Shooting,stabbing |
| Weapons | |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Perpetrator | Thomas Mair |
He witnessed the assailant stab Cox,who fell to the ground, before shooting her and stabbing her againshoot her, then stab her again. The attackerleft the scene, butwas pursued by an eyewitness whofollowed himand telephoned police to describe his locationidentified him to police.Armed police officers attended the incident, and arrested a suspect.
On 6 September 1966, Verwoerd was fatally stabbed at Parliament House by parliamentary messengerDimitri Tsafendas, who was arrested and quickly imprisoned.
| Brahmaputra Mail train bombing | |
|---|---|
| Location | Western Assam,India |
| Date | 30 December 1996 |
Attack type | Train bombing |
| Weapons | |
| Deaths | 33 |
On March 14, 1980 Lowenstein was shot in hisManhattan office by Sweeney, who was mentally ill and believed that Lowenstein was plotting against him. Sweeney then calmly waited for the police to arriveand arrest him.
On the morning of February 19, an employee went to the roof, where four 1,000-gallon water tanks provided water pumped from the city's supply, to the guest rooms, a kitchen, and a coffee shop downstairs. In one of them, he found Lam's body, floating face up a foot below the water surface.Police responded.
During the course of a routine meeting of the biology department attended by approximately 12 people, Amy Bishop, a biology professor at the university, stood up and began shooting those closest to her with a Ruger P95 handgun.Bishop was suspended without pay retroactively on the day of the attack.
He was found dead in 1959and is no longer sought by the police.
Her murderwould remain unsolved until itwas connected to Alcala in 2011.
He broke through the ceiling into the apartment of the chief jailer—who was out for the evening with his wife—changed into street clothes from the jailer's closet, and walked out the front doorto freedom.
At the request of Scottish detectives, the Metropolitan Policeconducted a search ofsearched Black's Stamford Hill lodgingsto determine whether anyincriminating evidence existed at Black's address.
_-_Crop.jpg)
Morgan lunged at his attacker and tackled Muenter to the ground as he fired two rounds into Morgan's groin and thigh. Morgan's butler finished subduing Muenter, beating him senseless with a lump of coal. Morgan quicklysummoned a doctor andrecovered, returning to work on August 14.
Taking a gun, Lindbergh went around the house and grounds with butler Olly Whateley; they found impressions in the ground under the window of the baby's room and pieces of a cleverly designed wooden ladder. They also found a baby's blanket. Whateley telephoned the Hopewell police departmentto inform them of the missing child.
President Kennedy's blood-stained jacket, shirt and tieworn during the assassinationare stored in the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland.
The gun with which Rubyshot andkilled Oswald, which came into the possession of Ruby's brother Earl, was sold in 1991 for $220,000.
While at Yale, Foster also had other stalkers, including a man who planned to kill her but changed his mind after watching her perform in a college play.The experience was difficult for Foster.
Norris claimed that if people draw pictures of Muhammad,radicalIslamist terrorists would not be able to murder them all...
| In the article Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: | In the article Horst Wessel: | In the article The Wizard of Oz (1939 film): |
 |  |   Bert Lahr |
| It's a common misconception that the man with the gun is Mrs. Lincoln. | You don't say! | The word "unnecessary" hardly does justice. Not a bad case of hirsutism? |
| Various views fromDonald Trump: | In the articleThe Pentagon: | |
 |  |  |
| The reader will know without being told that this is a "view". | We're safe in assuming that the reader will intuit that this "view" shows a "crowd". | Thus not some other five-sided megastructure for some reason being shown us in the articleThe Pentagon. |
| HonoringJames Agee: | Meanwhile,back in Cambridge: |
 |  |
| Who would have guessed? | Bingo! |
| The lead (and only) image inTwist tie: | In the articleThe Desire of Ages: | In the article UC Berkeley School of Law: |
 |  |  |
| Great example of an image thatdoesn't need a caption. | Recently inducted into the Principle of Some Astonishment Hall of Fame – caption and image both. | I weep. |
| In the article Boston Consolidated TRACON (whatever that is): | The lead image for CNN International: | The lead image forEarth: | ||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||
| No shit, Sherlock.(Turns out this is the logo forall CNN brands, not just CNN International – an example in which the impulse to add the obvious leads, instead, to a misleading inaccuracy.) | ||||||||||||||||||
| And here I thought they had agiant indoor lawn, miniature building-within-a-building, and artificial sky. | Earth. Yes, Earth.Planet Earth. Thelead image in the articleEarth. | |||||||||||||||||
| In the article Elizabeth II: | In the article Senghenydd colliery disaster: | In the article Harry Elkins Widener: | ||||||||||||||
 Edward Heath. (Apparently we're on our own for Pat Nixon vs. the Queen.) |  |
| ||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||
| In the article Chuck Connors: | In the article Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: |
 |  |
| The one with the breasts and the hairdo is Edward Heath. | Bearing in mind that left and right are reversed south of the equator. |
.jpg)
Campbell waskilled instantly on impact whendecapitated by the K7's windscreen.
In December 1896, Newell became an assistant division superintendent of the Boston and Albany Railroad. He was killed on Christmas Eve 1897 when an engine backed over himon the tracksat Springfield, Massachusetts..
She sustained eleven stab wounds to the face, neck and abdomen, of which at least five were to the area around the heart ... The coroner highlighted that, although passengers reported hearing "a commotion", nobody investigated.A verdict of unlawful killing was returned.
Gacy conned Butkovich into allowing his wrists to be cuffed behind his back, at which point Gacy strangled himto deathand buried his body under the concrete floor of his garage ... Mowery was strangledto deathand buried in the northwest corner of the crawl space ... Both Winch and Boling were strangledto deathand buried in the crawl space.
At approximately 3:39 p.m. Central Time on January 22, 1973, Johnson suffered a massive heart attack in his bedroom. He managed to telephone the Secret Service agents on the ranch, who found him still holding the telephone receiverin his hand.
Rainier, who did not remarry, was buried alongside herfollowing his deathin 2005.
Many of the prisoners died and weresubsequentlyburied
On the evening of 8 March 1963, Kuper, who was at home with his wife and daughter, was shot through a window by an unknown assailant. He diedof his injuriestwelve days later.
Cash's older brother Jack, with whom he was close, wasseriouslyinjuredin an accidentat his job in a high school when he was pulled into an unguardedtable saw while cutting oak into fence posts, and was almost cut in two. He diedfrom his injuriesa week later.
Sisnett died in his sleepof natural causeson 23 May 2013, at the age of 113 years, 90 days.
Music teacherKristine Fitzhugh (born1947–2000) was murdered on May 5, 2000 in her home in Palo Alto, California.
Paramedics found her heart beating once every 10 seconds. She was taken to nearby Downey Community Hospitalfor treatment.
he was ultimately mortally woundedand subsequently died.
On August 16, 2021, the county coroner reported that the death was ahomicide, which means that a person's life was taken by another.
Facepalm.Versions recorded byTeddy Pendergrass (1994–1999),Luther Vandross (2003–2009, 2011–2019, 2021–present), andNe-Yo (2016) have also been used; Vandross' version is believed to be the last song he recorded before his stroke andsubsequentdeath.
Heidnik was executed by lethal injection on July 6, 1999, at State Correctional Institution – Rockview in Centre County, Pennsylvania. His body waslatercremated.
His body was donated toUCLA Medical Centerafter he died.
He remained in contact with neo-Nazis elsewherein the worldand gave interviews to various foreign far-right publicationsprior to his death.
The project was the second of two which allowed Kurosawa and Takemitsu to collaborateduring their lifetimes.
Before his death,Beau had been widely seen as the frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic nomination for governor of Delaware.
The film starred three of France's most prominent actors – Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, who won a BAFTA award for his performance, and Yves Montand in one of his last rolesbefore his death.
Comment: Ditto. Or maybe they'd already died and Dr. Frankenstein reanimated them.
Comment: If death had been a consequence of his inventionoperating as expected, THAT would be worth mentioning.
Comment: Or maybe he's stuffed. (The description also saysDate: 1918
but we won't go there.)
The cover art ofTupac Shakur's albumThe Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory features an image of Shakur being crucifiedon a cross.
The opposite of the Principle of Some Astonishment is thePrinciple of Complete Puzzlement: some details don't belong because, though neither obvious nor even predictable, they're completely irrelevant and will puzzle the reader as to the reason for their inclusion.
In March 2009, Schumer announced his support for same-sex marriage, noting that it "was time". Schumer previously supported civil unions. At a privaterisottodinner with gay leaders ...
On December 18, 1972, Biden's wife Neilia and their one-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in an automobile accident in Hockessin, Delaware. Neilia Biden's station wagon was hit by a tractor-trailer truckcarrying corn cobsas she pulled out from an intersection.
On the evening of February 26, Martin was walking back alone to the fiancée's houseafter purchasing a bag ofSkittles and an Arizona iced tea atfrom a nearby convenience store.
The ATF stated that it had planted acovertGPS system in Bell's car and that it had trackedthe movements of hisNissan Maximaits movements in real time.
He took food preparation courses at a technical college and worked as a cook atMcDonald's and at a localItalian-Americanrestaurant.
[[Italian-American cuisine|Italian-American]] is especially pointless.)On September 19, 1968, Carlson died of a heart attackin the Festival Theatre, on West 57th Street in New York City, while watching the filmHe Who Rides a Tiger.
The remaining passengers were taken toa gym inArras, where they were searched and identified before being allowed to proceed to Paris.
Sixty-eight dairy cows, all full of milk,died on a farm at Fernbrook on the Waterfall Way near Dorrigo, New South Wales, after being involved in a lightning incident.
James Fred Blake (April 14, 1912 – March 21, 2002) was the bus driver whomRosa Parks defied in 1955, prompting theMontgomery Bus Boycott. Born on Apri1 14, 1912,the same day that the British passenger linerRMS Titanic hit an iceberg...
After witnessing the first attack,Jacques Rolé left the exhibition to buysixeggsfromFortnum & Mason, on the other side ofPiccadilly close to the Royal Academy, and threw three or four at the painting before being stopped.
On 30 April 2012, McAfee's property in Orange Walk Town, Belize, was raided by the Gang Suppression Unit of the Belize Police Departmentwhile he was in bed with a girlfriend.
It was built by early pioneer and farmer Michael Schenck and his son Samuel Schenck out oflocally quarriedlimestone,where many fossils can be seen on the eastern side of the facade.
Paytas addressed false online rumors claiming that she had already given birth and that the baby was the reincarnation ofElizabeth II.
Michael Kinsley's"Department of Amplification: William Shawn and the temple of facts" (The New Republic, 1984 – and well worth a read in full) is a pitch-perfect sendup ofThe New Yorker as "a weekly monument to the proposition that journalism consists of the endless accretion of tiny details":
The June 18New Yorker has an article about corn. It's the first in what appears to be a series, no less, discussing the major grains. What about corn? Who knows? OnlyThe New Yorker would have the lofty disdain for its readers to expect them to plow through 22,000 words about corn (warning: only an estimate; the TNR fact checkers are still counting) without giving them the slightest hint why. Here is how it starts (after a short introductory poem):
When the New England farmer and botanist Edward Sturtevant retired, in 1887, as head of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, in Geneva, he left behind a bulky manuscript that was published in 1919, twenty-one years after his death, as "Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants." Dr. Sturtevant, who was also a graduate of the Harvard Medical School, but never practiced medicine, had scoured the world's botanical literature for mentions of all the plants that human beings were known to have eaten (he did not count tree bark, which in times of famine was often one of them), and had come up with among more than three hundred thousand known plant species, two thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven edibles. (Latter-day scientists believe he may have missed as many more.) But, of all these, only a hundred and fifty or so have ever been widely enough consumed to figure in commerce, and of those a mere handful have been of any real consequence.
Now,there are some facts for you. No doubt every single one of them has been checked. You stand in awe as they tumble toward you, magnificently irrelevant, surrounded by mighty commas, mere numbers swollen into giant phrases ("two thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven"), all finally crashing over you with the bravura announcement that nothing you have just read is "of any real consequence." How true this is! From the end of the paragraph, you gaze back on the receding vistas of inconsequence, as far as the eye can see. Even supposing we would like a bit more information about corn, and even supposing we might be relieved to know how many other plants, edible and otherwise, arenot going to be discussed in this article, why are we being told about a man whose count apparently was off by half? Even supposing we need to know about Dr. Sturtevant’s book, when it was published, and when the good doctor died, why do we need to know when he retired? Even—stretching it—supposing that we need to know that this gentleman "was also a graduate of the Harvard Medical School," why, oh why, do we have to learn that he "never practiced medicine"? As for the business about tree bark, that has just got to be conscious self-parody.
Remind you of any Wikipedia articles?
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigour it will give your style.
Most first drafts can be cut by 50% without losing any information .... Look for clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away .... Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn't be there.
Most first drafts can be halved without losing information .... Mercilessly prune clutter from your writing; be grateful for all you can discard .... Writing improves as more unnecessary things are kept out.
Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.
I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.
I don't mind yet another epigraph.
In 1975 [Dave Barry] joined Burger Associates, a consulting firm that teaches effective writing to businesspersons. He spent nearly eight years trying to get various businesspersons to for God's sake stop writing things like "Enclosed please find the enclosed enclosure," but he eventually realized that it was hopeless.
duh. DUH. DUH!
Some writers tend to overuse quotations.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi stressed that the US presence in Syria without the approval of its government is illegal and completely contradicts with the international laws and resolutions, indicating that Iran fully rejects it.