Unfortunately, in much of the work we’re asked to edit, “a lot” is used…a lot.
Here are a few examples of how the term is commonly used:
- “There will be a lot of drinking after work tonight.”
- “Our style guide does not appear to be used by a lot of people.”
- “I try not to ask for a lot of help from the IT Department.”
- “There’s not a lot we can do about the CEO’s use of run-on sentences.”
- “I know he says it a lot, but your brother cannot trade you for an iPad.”
Its use in formal writing is lazy and colloquial. And as a quantifier, it’s meaningless. How much is “a lot,” exactly?
Download this free white paper to discover 10 ways to improve your writing today.
What follows is a list of alternatives to “a lot.” Consider using these more descriptive words and phrases in your next project.
- a good deal
- a great deal
- a large number
- ample
- a whole heap
- an abundance
- bunches
- copious, copious amount
- endless amount
- enormous amount
- enormously
- excessive amount
- heaps
- infinite
- legion
- loads
- many
- masses
- much
- millions
- myriad
- numerous
- plenty
- plethora
- reams
- scads
- several
- slew
- surplus
- thousands
- tons
- trillions
Let’s give those example sentences another try:
- “There will be an excessive amount of drinking after work tonight.”
- “Our style guide does not appear to be used by a many people.”
- “I try not to ask for any help from the IT Department.”
- “There’s not much we can do about the CEO’s use of run-on sentences.”
- “I know he says it constantly, but your brother cannot trade you for an iPad.”
Ragan.com readers, care to add any other synonyms to the list?
Laura Hale Brockway is a medical writer and editor from Austin, Texas. She writes about writing and editing at impertinentremarks.com.
This article first appeared on Ragan.com in November 2014.
from Ragan.com http://ift.tt/1QEORka via video services
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1OcTnEJ
No comments:
Post a Comment