Rescue Verbs
From the prison of copular constructions
Marvelous to say, the copular constructions that plague present-day English often employ variants of verbs we can use to replace them. Thus, when we write ‘the attempt by Anna Phylaxis to take control of Extra Muros was shocking’, the cure for the clumsy construction – ‘shocked the residents of Mount Ida’ – lies close at hand. Likewise, when we seek to avoid minting a minor monstrosity like ‘the rescue of the newsletter by the forces of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty was admirable’, we need travel too far afield to find ‘inspired admiration in all who heard of it’.
With this in mind, I composed the following little listicle, a kitten of a catalog that offers active alternatives to the adjectival assemblies that deprive our writing of the power it might otherwise enjoy.
Broke Bespoke Baroque
is boring bores bores to the point of tears
is impressive impresses makes a mighty impression
is surprising surprises surprises the socks off
is shocking shocks shocks like a sit down in Ol’ Sparky
Related Reading
