{"id":5401,"date":"2025-10-25T15:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T15:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/?p=5401"},"modified":"2026-01-25T21:44:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T21:44:00","slug":"bad-writing-the-canary-in-the-coal-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/bad-writing-the-canary-in-the-coal-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad writing: the canary in the coal mine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
“Bad writing is the canary in the coal mine. It tells you that you don’t know what you’re doing.” (Image by Capri23auto<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Which of these sounds better to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. \u201cGive me my money back!\u201d he said loudly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. \u201cGive me my money back!\u201d he shouted. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The second is far better. Adverbs have their place, but if you can find the right verb to express what you want to say, that is always neater and punchier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is one example \u2013 a very simple one \u2013 of lexical\ndiversity, which is largely about having a good vocabulary and using it well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    “A recent academic study found that lexically diverse hedge funds outperform.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    A recent academic study<\/a>\nsuggested that lexical diversity may be more important for fund managers than\nyou might think. The study found that \u201clexically diverse hedge funds\u201d \u2013 ones\nwith strategy descriptions that use a rich vocabulary \u2013 outperform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is perhaps unsurprising. A dull, predictable vocabulary\nseldom heralds searing intelligence \u2013 or great engagement with the task at\nhand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But there\u2019s more to it than that. The study also found that\nlexically diverse hedge funds eschew tail risk and encounter fewer regulatory\nproblems. By contrast, funds with \u201csyntactically complex strategy descriptions\u201d\nare more likely to violate regulations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cLexical diversity [\u2026] has been associated with cognitive\nability and honesty,\u201d the study says. \u201cSyntactic complexity [\u2026] has been linked\nto deceptive behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    “Syntactic complexity has been linked to deceptive behaviour.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    This chimes with our experience of teaching writing. A rich\nvocabulary stems from engagement and belief. Convoluted sentences happen when\nwriters are hiding something or don\u2019t understand it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Good writing is important. It\u2019s not just that bad writing\ngives you away. Bad writing is the canary in coal mine. It tells you that don\u2019t\nknow what you\u2019re doing or what you\u2019re doing isn\u2019t right. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Which of these sounds better to you? The second is far better. Adverbs have their place, but if you can find the right verb to express what you want to say, that is always neater and punchier. This is one example \u2013 a very simple one \u2013 of lexical diversity, which is largely about having … <\/p>\n

    Continue reading “Bad writing: the canary in the coal mine”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[209,205,202,211,207,150,156],"class_list":["post-5401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-engagement","tag-lexical-diversity","tag-performance","tag-regulation","tag-syntax","tag-vocabulary","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5401"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5663,"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5401\/revisions\/5663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fundwriting.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}