Day 8 On Writing Well C10Part1

Words and expressions

1. The second is necessarily longer and it has an insipid quality: something was done by somebody to someone else.

insipid:not interesting, exciting, or attractive

仿写: On the surface she seemed meek, rather insipid.

2. Nobody ever quite knows what is being perpetrated by whom and on whom.

perpetrate: to do something that is morally wrong or illegal.

仿写: Who could have perpetrated such a dreadful crime?

3. They dilute your style and your persuasiveness.

dilute: to make a quality, belief etc weaker or less effective

仿写: There was a clear intention to dilute black voting power.

4. Don’t bekind of bold.

bold: not afraid of taking risks and making difficult decisions

仿写: He had the ability to take bold imaginative decisions.

5. There’s no rule against such informality—trust your ear and your instincts.

instinct: a natural tendency to behave in a particular way or a natural ability to know something, which is not learned

仿写: Animals have a natural instinct for survival.

6. But don’t go berserk.

go berserk:to become very angry and violent

仿写: Dad went berserk when he found out.

Reflection

Writing is  visual—it catches the eyebefore it has a chance to catch the brain. So the author tells us some to keep the writing precise. Use precise verbs. and most adjectives are also unnecessary. Like adverbs, they are sprinkledinto sentences by writers who don’t stop to think that the  concept isalready in the noun. It is very important to make our words do work that needs tobe done.

Nobody ever quite knows what is being perpetrated by whom and on whom.

有个疑问:我查到的perpetrate的意思是做错事，犯罪，但不知道这个意思放在这儿这个句子该如何翻译。