Monday, September 14, 2009

Top 10 Weasel Words of Greatest Use to History Writers

Just in my experience.

1. Appears to be
2. Seemingly
3. In part because of
4. Suggests
5. Seems like
6. Can be seen as
7. Could have been
8. Likely was
9. May have been

And my all-time favorite:

10. Arguably
at

4 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 14, 2009 at 8:15 PM

    In law school, they always suggested "to be sure". I still find myself saying that phrase...ugh...!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dusty DSeptember 14, 2009 at 9:56 PM

    Patti: Ha! I suppose there are such stock phrases embedded in every profession or pursuit.

    Lord knows that when I studied to be a teacher there were certainly enough of them studded throughout our textbooks. Like "cohort" for "group"...&c.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Edward VielmettiSeptember 16, 2009 at 12:07 AM

    Don't forget "allegedly"!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dusty DSeptember 16, 2009 at 1:26 PM

    Ed: Oh, of course--that's a useful one, too.

    ReplyDelete