Mea Culpa: alarming uptick in stock phrases

Questions of style and language in last week’s Independent, policed by John Rentoul

Roman Abramovich: is time trying to tell him something? (PA)

Papers on economics that had been edited by professional editors were judged by senior economists as being of higher academic quality than the same unedited papers, according to recent research at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. This should not be surprising. It ought to be obvious that a crisp, clear style will trick the reader into thinking that the substance of the writing is better.

Untick this box: And yet we still use the word “uptick” with alarming frequency. “GPs across the country have also reported increased Covid-linked demand as practices indicate they have seen an uptick in patients with symptoms,” we reported. Thanks to Linda Beeley for pointing it out. Presumably we wanted to avoid “increase” after “increased”, but we could have said “they have seen more patients with symptoms”.

Not imminently: We don’t use the phrase “any time soon” very often, but we do use it more often than is necessary, which is never. It is always used in the negative – such as “this is unlikely to get better any time soon” – and the only difference between it and plain “soon” is the cadence of casual American speech. Worse, I have noticed a couple of times recently when “any time” has been rendered as one word. I know this is merely a matter of taste, but that really is adding insult to injury.