An overused system
System
Frequently used without need.
Poor: Dayton has adopted the commission system of government.
Better: Dayton has adopted the commission system of government by commission.
Do the students have a body?
Student body
A needless and awkward expression, meaning no more than the simple word students.
Poor: A member of the student body
Better: A student
Poor: Popular with the student body
Better: Liked by the students
Poor: The student body passed resolutions.
Better: The students passed resolutions.
State your position
State
Not to be used as a mere substitute for say, remark. Restrict it to the sense of express fully or clearly, as, “He refused to state his objections.”
So so topic
So
Avoid, in writing, the use of so as an intensifier: “so good;” “so warm;” “so delightful.”
Excess words
Respective, respectively
These words may usually be omitted with advantage.
Poor: Works of fiction are listed under the names of their respective authors.
Better: Works of fiction are listed under the names of their authors.
Poor: The one mile and two mile runs were won by Jones and Cummings respectively.
Better: The one mile and two mile runs were won by Jones and by Cummings.
In some kinds of formal writing, as in geometrical proofs, it may be necessary to use respectively, but it should not appear in writing on ordinary subjects.
Do you own or possess?
Possess
Not to be used as a mere substitute for have or own.
Poor: He possessed great courage.
Better: He had great courage (was very brave).
Poor: He was the fortunate possessor of
Better: He owned
He is going through another growth phase
Phase
Means a stage of transition or development: “the phases of the moon;” “the last phase.” Not to be used for aspect or topic.
Poor: Another phase of the subject
Better: Another point (another question)
Have your people contact my people
People
The people is a political term, not to be confused with the public. From the people comes political support or opposition; from the public comes artistic appreciation or commercial patronage.
The word people is not to be used with words of number, in place of persons. If of “six people” five went away, how many “people” would be left?
Don't begin a paragraph with this one
One of the most
Avoid beginning essays or paragraphs with this formula, as, “One of the most interesting developments of modern science is, etc.;” “Switzerland is one of the most interesting countries of Europe.” There is nothing wrong in this; it is simply threadbare and forcible-feeble.
I often say one hundred and one
Oftentimes, ofttimes
Archaic forms, no longer in good use. The modern word is often.
One hundred and one
Retain the and in this and similar expressions, in accordance with the unvarying usage of English prose from Old English times.