Adjectivisation

Towards more picturesque speech™ →Go uptown This sentence is indicative of adjectivisation. This one indicates elegant prose. SEC guidance on plain EnglishIndex: Click ᐅ to expand: Plain English Drafting Metaphor Tell me more Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

The lexo-crime of taking a perfectly good verb, having it identify as an adjective and then demeaning it by sticking an inferior, dull, verb — like be, make, do, give, or worst of all effect — in front of it. Dead giveaways constructions include the passive and the word “of”.

“I support this proposal”

becomes

“I am supportive of this proposal”

from where it is a short leap to:

“Subject to what Chip thinks, I would be inclined to be supportive of the proposal as presented in its current form for the time being.”

And bingo, you are set for success in the legal department of a large financial institution.

See also

• nominalisation