What is a qualifier in writing?
Qualifiers and intensifiers are words or phrases that are added to another word to modify its meaning, either by limiting it (He was somewhat busy) or by enhancing it (The dog was very cute). Qualifiers can play an important role in your writing, giving your reader clues about how confident you feel about the information you’re presenting. In fact, “hedging” (as it is sometimes called) is an important feature of academic writing, because academic writers need to clearly indicate whether they think claims are certain, likely, unlikely, or just false. But excessive use of qualifiers can make you sound unsure of your facts; it can also make your writing too informal.
Why do we need a qualifier?
In such cases, using a qualifier allows you to present your findings with what we can call “confident uncertainty,” which reflects a need to be cautious and critical about the data you’re presenting. Sometimes you may be required to present your ideas before you have had a chance to fully interpret your research findings. At other times, you may want to remind readers of the limitations of your particular research.
What is qualifier in grammar?
Qualifiers–Grammar Rules and Examples. A qualifier is a word that limits or enhances another word’s meaning. Qualifiers affect the certainty and specificity of a statement. Overusing certain types of qualifiers (for example, very or really) can make a piece of writing sound lazily constructed.
Can you use qualifiers too much?
It is best not to use some qualifiers too much. These are the modifiers your English teacher dreaded seeing in great quantities, such as very, too, really, and sort of. When you use overuse these words, your writing will seem lazy, as if you haven’t taken the time to look for the “just right” word to describe what you mean.
Do qualifiers always change the meaning of a sentence?
The qualifiers sometimes, always, and usually greatly changed the meaning of the sentence in the example above. Qualifiers can also specify relative quality.
What is a weasel word?
Weasel words are phrases that are designed to sound authoritative or meaningful that lack content and true meaning. These are typically used to persuade without evidence, inform without information or to promise without commitment. The following are common types of weasel words.
What is the origin of the phrase "weasel"?
Origin of the Phrase. Weasel has long been slang for a dishonest person. This extends from the animal's prowess, intelligence and trickiness in attacking farm animals , particularly chickens. William Shakespeare uses the word weasel in this way several times in his works such as "Methinks it is like a weasel" in Hamlet Act 3, Scene 2. ...
What are some words that are used to describe a weasel?
Subjunctive mood. Weasel Words There are certain “weasel words” that modify the meaning of what you’re saying to the point that you appear to be saying one thing when you’re actually saying the exact opposite. Weasel words and phrases include “may,” “might,” “could,” “can,” “can be,” ...
What is a weasel in a sentence?
Words and phrases are constantly used to hedge the meaning of what’s being said. Weasel is a particular combination of vocabulary choices and sentence structures. Specifically, it involves using:
What does passive voice mean in writing?
As a result, if you use a lot of passive voice constructions, your writing will be harder to read than it has to be. As for what the term means: “Voice” is simply a bit of grammar jargon that describes the relationship between the subject of a sentence and the verb.
Is it a good move to use weasels?
A different kind of problem arises when we start using weasel words all the time, even when there’s no need to qualify or soften the assertions we’re making. If that kind of language becomes a habit, we create the impression that we’re being sneaky. That’s not a good move. Or, to put it in Weasel, “we might create the impression that we’re possibly being sneaky. That may not be a good move.”
What is a weasel word?
A weasel word, or anonymous authority, is an informal term for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. Examples include the phrases "some people say", ...
Why do weasels use words?
Using weasel words may allow one to later deny any specific meaning if the statement is challenged, because the statement was never specific in the first place. Weasel words can be a form of tergiversation and may be used in advertising, conspiracy theories and political statements to mislead or disguise a biased view.
Where did the word "weasel" come from?
Origin. The expression weasel word may derive from the egg-eating habits of weasels. An article published by the Buffalo News attributes the origin of the term to William Shakespeare 's plays Henry V and As You Like It, in which the author includes similes of weasels sucking eggs.
What does "weasel out" mean?
Definitions of the word 'weasel' that imply deception and irresponsibility include: the noun form, referring to a sneaky, untrustworthy, or insincere person; the verb form, meaning to manipulate shiftily; and the phrase "to weasel out ", meaning "to squeeze one's way out of something" or "to evade responsibility".
What is an example of passive voice?
For example, in the sentence "one hundred votes are required to pass the bill", there is no ambiguity, and the actors including the members of the voting community cannot practicably be named even if it were useful to do so. The scientific journal article is another example of the legitimate use of the passive voice.
Who used the word "weasel"?
Theodore Roosevelt attributed the term to his friend William Sewall's older brother, Dave, claiming that he used the term in a private conversation in 1879. In another early usage, Theodore Roosevelt argued in 1916 that "one of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use ...'weasel words'; when one 'weasel word' is used ...
When is passive voice used?
However, the passive voice is legitimately used when the identity of the actor or agent is irrelevant. For example, in the sentence "one hundred votes are required to pass the bill", there is no ambiguity, and the actors including the members of the voting community cannot practicably be named even if it were useful to do so.
Introduction
Qualifiers and intensifiers are words or phrases that are added to another word to modify its meaning, either by limiting it (He was somewhat busy) or by enhancing it (The dog was very cute). Qualifiers can play an important role in your writing, giving your reader clues about how confident you feel about the information you’re prese…
Qualifiers Can Be Your Friends
- Qualifiers are often necessary, such as when your evidence or your claim is open to doubt. In such cases, using a qualifier allows you to present your findings with what we can call “confident uncertainty,” which reflects a need to be cautious and critical about the data you’re presenting. Sometimes you may be required to present your ideas before you have had a chance to fully inte…
How Much Doubt Do You Want to Create?
- In most academic writing, you make an argument to support a thesis. To make a strong argument, you’ll need to convince readers of your points. Consider these two sentences: The first sentence makes your reader doubt the conclusion you’ve arrived at; the latter sentence leaves no doubt about your argument for the causes of Nixon’s resignation. How can you know which sentence t…
Qualifiers and Your Writing Style
- Writing that contains too many qualifiers can sound unclear and wordy. We often rely on qualifiers—especially intensifiers—because we either don’t know or don’t take the time to find the appropriate word. Instead we construct our meaning by employing a not-quite-right word with a qualifier added to strengthen or to tone down a noun or verb. Anna Karenina is a somewhat adm…
The Qualifier Habit
- Using lots of qualifiers can become a habit. Sometimes it carries over from the way you speak—perhaps you are a dramatic storyteller who uses lots of intensifiers to express your strong feelings. Sometimes it reflects your relationship to writing, or to your readers—perhaps you feel that you are a “bad writer” and cannot write with confidence, or perhaps you are writing for an int…
Strategies
- Suppose you’ve realized that you use the words on the above lists too often and have resolved to cut back. But how? One method is to read through your paper and circle all the adverbs and adjectives. Then examine each one and see whether it accurately and concisely conveys your intended meaning. It proved to be very hard to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson. Better: It proved to b…
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