Writing Tip

Avoid Hyperbolic Language

Difficulty Level: Basic

Recommendation: Avoid hyperbole in all of its forms.

Hyperbole is a figure of speech, a way to exaggerate something, to amplify its features. The idea of this tip is to keep your language scientific, neutral, unbiased. It may be easier to split this tip into the best chunks anyone has ever read in the entire universe! But more realistically, what follows are a few things to consider when you write.

Avoid Superlatives

A superlative is all inclusive or all exclusive. It’s everyone and no one, everybody and nobody, everything and nothing, always, never, everywhere. Because they tend to include or exclude everything, they overgeneralize. No exceptions. For example, everyone will enjoy the features of the black box that was tested in the lab. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule of thumb. Sometimes, superlatives are fitting. Of the three boxes tested, the black box was the fastest. That doesn’t mean that it was the fastest in the universe, but of the three boxes—this small sample of boxes—it outperformed the other two in the parameter of speed.

Avoid Exaggeration

I’ve got a million chores to do, but I stopped for a split second to write this sentence. About that black box: It operated at the speed of light. Miles ahead of the other two boxes. Also, it’s incredibly cheap. Notice how the previous sentences are loaded with value judgments about its speed and price. The person who tested these boxes was highly impressed with the black one. His (or her) language reveals that bias.

Avoid Clichés

Clichés are wonderful ways to color language, but they don’t belong in scientific discourse. Using clichés in an article for IEEE Spectrum or other trade magazine is okay. Clichés in a technical report: not okay. If your language is naturally colorful, resist trying to entertain your reader. Less playful and more sober win the day. And about that black box? It operated like greased lightning, said the engineer to his workmate. But it operated 57% faster than the blue box, said the engineer in his report.

Avoid Drama

The black box was wildly fast and dramatically superior to the blue and red boxes. Sure, it was fast, but not dramatically so (there were no ruffles under its chin). Perhaps it was significantly faster. This advice—avoid drama—ties back to clichés, which can be very dramatic. It’s true that you may be very hungry, and you could, in theory, eat a horse, but it would take you about a month—and your oven would have to be huge, like a constellation. Writing like that is often called “purple prose” because it is ornate for its own sake. Just remember to maintain an objective tone.

Don’t Polarize Your Readers

Rarely are things binary: black or white, on or off. Politics, religion, and even sports (go Bears!) are subjects to avoid—we ALL know that. But polarizing language can be more subtle. For example: “All well-educated engineers know X.” Now you’ve created two pots: one for smart engineers and one for dummies. You don’t mean to do that, but if I consider myself well-educated, and I don’t know X, then you have alienated me, kicked me out of the club. On a more nebulous note: using the masculine pronouns “he,” “him,” and “his” exclusively is highly polarizing. However, I know of no satisfactory remedy.

Adjectives: There Are Three Degrees

When using adjectives to describe test results, remember that there are three kinds:

  • Positive: This is the base form of the adjective: The black box was fast.
  • Comparative: Use this to compare two things: The black box was faster than the blue box.
  • Superlative: Use this to compare more than two things: The black box was the fastest of all tested boxes.

So, now that we know about adjectival degrees, let’s figure out where the danger lies. It’s the positive adjective that gets you in trouble. Don’t say, “The black box was fast.” Say, “The black box completed the operation in 182 ms.” “Fast” reveals a value judgment or, worse, a bias, as in the author is promoting the black box. By saying “fast,” you are characterizing it in a way that may violate the objective tone of science. You can still get into trouble using the comparatives and superlatives. Saying that the black box was faster than the blue box is okay, but saying that the black box was better than the blue box is not. Saying that the black box was the fastest is okay, but saying that the black box was the best is not.