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“DIFFERENT” (ACTUAL EXAMPLE)



THE PROBLEM REVEALED AND EXPLAINED:


Different is often included uncritically where it is not needed at all. Consider “Voters in thirteen different states. . . .” We’re probably not talking about twelve states with one of them being counted twice to reach a total of thirteen! Surely “Voters in thirteen states . . .” will suffice.

THE EDIT:


In the actual example given here, we have two occurrences of different, the first of which can be dealt with in the same way (“a number of moments”). The second, which could simply be omitted (“constantly send new challenges”), could also be revised to say “constantly send new and varied challenges” (or “diverse” or “wide-ranging” instead of “varied”) if we want to emphasize the multiplicity, not just the novelty.

 

  1. TEN EASY FIXES


  2.   1. based on

  3.   2. dangling modifier

  4.   3. different

  5.   4. due to

  6.   coming soon:

  7.   5. is comprised of

  8.   6. not only but also

  9.   7. provide

  10.   8. robust (and other buzzwords)

  11.   9. singular-they

  12. 10. the following

 

Better Writing—Instantly