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If You Clarify, There's No Need to Explain

Clarifying is not the same as explaining.
Let me explain. No, wait: let me clarify that...which is it?

When I hear the word 'explain', I envision multiple paragraphs of additional text that may not be necessary. Whereas the word 'clarify' evokes a beautiful landscape of writing where every word means something and no word can be left out. In the meantime, yes, 'clarify' and 'explain' are synonyms, which means they are similar, not exactly alike.

In the context of writing well and writing to engage, I recommend clarity over too much explanation; perhaps that's a better way to put it. If anyone needs me to clarify that, let me know.
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  1. P. P.May 23, 2012 at 9:34 AM

    I like your point of view.
    Regards from Portugal,
    paulo

    ReplyDelete

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