Technical English: Fewer is better!

1. Technical English:Fewer is better! John Morris Faculty of Engineering,Mahasarakham University Computer Science/Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Auckland Iolanthe II leaves the Hauraki Gulf under full sail – Auckland-Tauranga Race, 2007

2. Words to avoid • Many words have crept into the scientific literature that are best banished from it entirely!! • Myth • Using an elaborate, long, obscure or just ‘new’ word makes your work more acceptable and more likely to be published • Reality • If your work is good and described in a simple way, your reviewers|examiners|readers will not notice the absence of the long words • On the contrary, they will be happy that they were able to read and understood your work quickly! • Theme: Good technical English is simple

3. Words to avoid • Functionality • Much loved by computer scientists! • An appalling abuse of English!! • This word was formed in this way • Take a verb (or noun) ‘function’ • Turn it into an adjective ‘functional’ • Turn it back into a noun ‘functionality’ • And use it a synonym for a much simpler word that already existed ‘capability’!! • Worse - use it in place of ‘functions’ • Use ‘capability’ or ‘functions’ instead!! • Try replacing functionality with one of these two words in any computer science or engineering paper! • You will get a simpler sentence with an identical meaning

4. Words to avoid • Utilize • Use ‘use’ instead! We utilized a pH meter to measure … to We used a pH meter … • No explanation necessary • Reasons are obvious! • Utilization, n • Use ‘use’ too! • However, when measuring use, utilization is usual Resource utilization reached 99% when … • Note that ‘use’ or ‘usage’ would actually suffice here too!

5. Words to avoid • employ • Do not use when ‘use’ will do! We employed multi-variate statistics to analyze .. • better We used multi-variate statistics to analyze .. • and even better We analyzed our data with multi-variatestatistics. • Two principles here • Always use the simpler word • Active sentences are better • See first topic in this set!

6. Words to avoid • Prove, Proof, Proved, … • Formal scientific theory states that No experiment proves any hypothesis • It merely provides support for the hypothesis (and the theory behind it) • Never use ‘prove’ in an experimental paper • Use ‘demonstrate’, ‘show’, ‘support’, … • Except in mathematical proofs • Here a logical argument leads to a proof of a proposition or theory or lemma|… • Disprove • Acceptable because an experiment can refute a theory • It provides the counter-example that disproves the theory!

7. Words to avoid • about • In this context This chapter is about .. • about is colloquial and should not be used .. This chapter discusses ... • ‘about’ meaning ‘approximately’ is OK • But approximately is more formal and would be preferred

8. Words to avoid • like .. • In this context I used parameters like x, y and z. • like is vague and colloquial and should not be used .. I used parameters x, y and z. ie provide a specific list • ‘like’ meaning ‘is similar to’ is also colloquial The error for method B is like that for method A • Use ‘is similar to’ The error for method B is similar to that for method A • which can be shortened to Methods A and B show similar errors. • or better some more precise measure of similarity Methods A and B show errors within 1% of each other.

9. Words to avoid • given as .. Introducing equations … The state transition equation … is given as: Xk = HXk-1 + wk-1 • Since the equation follows immediately, ‘given as’ is unnecessary The state transition equation … is Xk = HXk-1 + wk-1 • as follows .. • Similarly ‘as follows’ is usually redundant The disparity may be defined as follows: d = xl - xr • Just omit it The disparity may be defined: d = xl - xr

10. Words to avoid • Colloquial expressions • get, got • Only use in speech low latency solutions got less attention to low latency solutions received less attention

11. Words to avoid • More colloquial expressions • There are many things that are OK in your oral presentation but which should not appear in the written version • Don’t, isn’t, can’t, we’d, .. • These contractions should appear in full in your text .. do not .. .. is not .. .. can not .. we would ..

12. Words to avoid • ‘a must’ • Colloquial Accurate calibration is a must for good matching • better Accurate calibration is essential for good matching • or Accurate calibration is neededfor good matching

13. Words to avoid • Colloquial expressions • big • Only use in speech We observed a big effect … to We observed a largeeffect … or better We observed a significant change .. • Similarly • tinyvery small, insignificant • hugevery large

14. Words to avoid • Colloquial expressions • a lot of • Vague .. Only use in speech • Generally you should be more precise The signal had a lot of noise … to Signal-to-noise was only 2 dB … or if you really don’t have a figure .. The signal was noisy …

15. Words to avoid • Superlatives • Best, worst, largest, smallest, always, … • Be careful with these! • When you’re comparing your work with other work • Don’t make statements that your referee, examiner, …could disagree with!! • He or she may believe that another approach is better • Make more qualified (weaker) assertions • Choose words that you can easily justify to anyone! This approach is the best way to … to This approach performs better than x, y and z (specific list) • Don’t ‘pick a fight’ (generate an unnecessary argument with) your examiners, referees or readers • A ‘safe’ statement which can be accepted by anyone is more efficient

16. Words to avoid • popular, popularity • Popularity is NOT an appropriate criterion for including something in scientific work! • Scientific rigour, novelty, importance for some application, performance and many other reasons are valid, but popularity is not! • There are several well documented cases of a ‘popular’ theory later rejected as nonsense • Look up the ‘phlogiston’ theory • Originating in 1667, this theory was considered valid until disproven in 1753 but was still being referred to in 1794! • For a more recent example, look up ‘cold fusion’  • You may use ‘popular’ in a disparaging sense if you want to refute some widely held belief • If you want to say that many people use some technique, use ‘common’ instead. This is a neutral word that simply implies many users whereas popular implies some approval …

17. Words to avoid • as follows • Often simply not needed Disparity can be defined as follows: d = xl – xr • If it follows immediately (as it almost always does!), this will suffice: Disparity can be defined: d = xl – xr

18. Words to avoid • Words and expressions ‘borrowed’ from other contexts • ‘said’ often appears in legal documents, but don’t use in scientific ones • Make an explicit reference in the said settings to in the setting listed in section 5.3 … • Note also that lawyers will use ‘said’ for something in the previous sentence! • Even they won’t ‘throw back’ the reference over many sentences or paragraphs • Occasionally such borrowings are acceptable but often they stretch the reader’s knowledge of English expressions to a limit only reached by native speakers. • Remember,nowadays most of your readers are probably NOT native speakers!!