www.astralcodexten.com/p/half-a-month-of-consolation-writing/comments
1 correction found
Mark Twain once said, “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”
This quotation is widely misattributed to Mark Twain. Reference works and quote researchers trace it instead to newspaper editor William Allen White.
Full reasoning
The problem here is the attribution, not the writing advice itself.
Multiple reputable sources say this line is not reliably by Mark Twain and is instead traced to William Allen White, the longtime editor of the Emporia Gazette.
- The Guardian style guide specifically notes that the quotation is “often attributed to Mark Twain” but is “now thought to be the advice of William Allen White.”
- Poynter likewise says the tip is “often attributed to Mark Twain” but “has been traced to legendary Kansas editor William Allen White.”
- A quote-research post archived by the American Dialect Society gives an early 1935 newspaper citation explicitly attributing the advice to White: “Never use the word, ‘very.’ ... If you feel the urge of ‘very’ coming on, just write the word, ‘damn,’ in the place of ‘very.’ The editor will strike out the word, ‘damn,’ and you will have a good sentence.”
So the sentence is misleading because it presents the line as something Mark Twain once said, when the available evidence points to William Allen White instead.
3 sources
- Guardian style guide: V | The Guardian
The Guardian style guide says of the quotation: "Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'. Your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be" and adds that it is "a quotation often attributed to Mark Twain but now thought to be the advice of William Allen White".
- Tronc cuts half of the NY Daily News newsroom | Poynter
Poynter's writing tip quotes the line and then states: "Often attributed to Mark Twain, the tip has been traced to legendary Kansas editor William Allen White."
- Anecdote: Write 'damn' instead of 'very' ... (William Allen White 1935)
This American Dialect Society archive reproduces a 1935 newspaper citation attributing the advice to White: "Never use the word, 'very.' ... If you feel the urge of 'very' coming on, just write the word, 'damn,' in the place of 'very.' The editor will strike out the word, 'damn,' and you will have a good sentence."