LANGUAGE CORNER
Elegant Variation
Elegant, Shmelegant
An article mentioned "a letter that Tripp wrote Newsweek back in August after the Willey story first appeared," and continued, "In her missive, Tripp . . ." Another, after mentioning a "letter to the editor" in one paragraph, continued, "His missive inspired a second letter to the editor . . ." Still another reported on " . . . a pointed, important May 8 letter to Dombeck. The missive also was signed . . ."
"Missive," meaning a communication, is often a stilted word. It has its uses (usually humorous) but none of our examples qualifies; each simply substitutes the word for the innocuous "letter."
And that is the writing crime of (shudder!) elegant variation — straining conspicuously to avoid totally inoffensive repetition. A classic cliché example is "wet, white stuff" to avoid "snow." Less shopworn, but no less offensive, was the caption that mentioned "beef sandwiches" and followed up with "savory treats."
In his Dictionary of Modern English Usage, the great H.W. Fowler declared of elegant variation, "There are few literary faults so widely prevalent, and this book will not have been written in vain if the present article should heal any sufferer of his infirmity." Here's to our good health.
— CJR, Sept./Oct. 1998
