after a negative: "He said that he would not even hear me, which I confess I had expected." Here the meaning may be, "I had expected that he would," or "that he would not, hear me." Write, "a refusal, or, a favour, that I confess I had expected." See (38).
11. Use particular for general terms.—This is a most important rule. Instead of "I have neither the necessaries of life nor the means of procuring them," write (if you can with truth), "I have not a crust of bread, nor a penny to buy one."
CAUTION—There is a danger in this use. The meaning is vividly expressed but sometimes may be exaggerated or imperfect. Crust of bread may be an exaggeration; on the other hand, if the speaker is destitute not only of bread, but also of shelter and clothing, then crust of bread is an imperfect expression of the meaning.
In philosophy and science, where the language ought very often to be inclusive and brief, general and not particular terms must be used.
11 a. Avoid Verbal Nouns where Verbs can be used instead. The disadvantage of the use of Verbal Nouns is this, that, unless they are immediately preceded by prepositions, they are sometimes liable to be confounded with participles. The following is an instance of an excessive use of Verbal Nouns:
"The pretended confession of the secretary was only collusion to lay the jealousies of the king's favouring popery, which still hung upon him, notwithstanding his writing on the Revelation, and affecting to enter on all occasions into controversy, asserting in particular that the Pope was Antichrist."
Write "notwithstanding that he wrote and affected &c."
12. Use a particular Person instead of a class.
"What is the splendour of the greatest monarch compared with the beauty of a flower?" "What is the splendour of Solomon compared with the beauty of a daisy?"
Under this head may come the forcible use of Noun for Adjective: "This fortress is weakness itself."
An excess of this use is lengthy and pedantically bombastic, e.g., the following paraphrase for "in every British colony:"— "under Indian palm-groves, amid Australian gum-trees, in the shadow of African mimosas, and beneath Canadian pines."
13. Use Metaphor instead of literal statement.
"The ship ploughs the sea" is clearer than "the ship cleaves the sea," and shorter than "the ship cleaves the sea as a plough cleaves the land." ...