Pimp my English | Slimming down – Get rid of unnecessary words

By Anna Malczyk
We sometimes subconsciously add little extra words and phrases to our writing because we want to bring our meaning across better or think that the reader needs a clearer explanation. Unfortunately, these little extras often lead to more confusion, not less. Here are six little phrases that you can “slim down” – no diet or exercise required!

So as to
“So as to” is really just a longer way to say “to”.
•    I have written this guide so as to teach you more about English.
•    I have written this guide to teach you more about English

In order to
“In order to” is a very commonly used phrase that can almost always be substituted with a simple “to”.
•    I need your ID number in order to process your registration.
•    I need your ID number to process your registration

With regards to
“With regards to” is a fancy business-speak way of saying “about”.
•    This is a message with regards to our conversation.
•    This is a message about our conversation.

In this regard
“In this regard” is usually added to emphasise that one statement relates to something mentioned earlier. However, it’s often unnecessary because the meaning is already clear. You can usually leave it out completely.
•    Please email me your order form. Call me if you have any problems in this regard.
•    Please email me your order form. Call me if you have any problems.

How it is that
“How it is that” is a longer way of saying “how”, but means exactly the same thing.
•    Please tell me how it is that we got 100 registrations yesterday.
•    Please tell me how we got 100 registrations yesterday

The way in which
If you ask about “the way in which” something happened, you’re actually just asking “how”.
•    Can you explain the way in which the new Learning website works?
•    Can you explain how the new Learning website works?

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license.