One Word (Truly) Dilutes Your Message

As someone who is almost entirely aural (i.e., My primary intake pathway is my ears…) I am highly sensitive to noise.

When this ‘noise’ comes in the form of words cluttering a sentence and detracting from what the writer or speaker is seeking to accomplish, I flag it for myself (and my poor husband.)

Today I’m flagging a pet peeve for you.

Before I begin, however, a disclaimer:

I am aware I often fall short of the beauty inherent in Strunk and White’s Elements of Style.

That said, we all need things to which we can aspire, and uncluttered writing is mine.

Onward.

I was looking through various websites the other day and was struck over and over by the use—let’s say the injection—of the word “truly” in various sentences.

2 examples follow:

“X’s market expertise, coupled with his superior negotiating skills, truly set him apart from the rest.”

“…allowing you to learn how to truly achieve a deep state of focus…”

In both these cases, the addition of “truly” had the opposite effect from the one I believe the writers intended.

Rather than believing more firmly in X’s capabilities or the probability of achieving the deep state of focus, I lost faith in both.

So, the next time you long to make your point more emphatically, try adding “truly” and taking it away.

It will make a difference.

(Should you doubt me, add “truly” to the above and note how the impact dribbles away….)

Yours,

(Not “truly” yours; I would never want you to doubt how much you mean to me.)

Frances