Language/Writing Tip 27

Here are two quick ones:

1) “too long” can neatly be replaced by “overly long” when used before a noun.

“This too long novel is dull.”
“This overly long novel is dull.”

(Hyphenated “too-long” has a smidgen of humour. E.g. “‘Yet another of his too-long lectures,’ moaned Raul.” The humour comes from the intentional flouting of the rules.)

2) “The gossips were gossiping about gossip.”
a) “The gossips” – people
b) “to gossip” – verb
c) “gossip” – singular noun. No need for the plural, even if you have oodles of stories about your neighbour.

More here: http://www2.arnes.si/~bjason/index.html#guides