Editorial - Write it Right and Say it Right: The Anguished English of Dentistry.

Abstract

In the late 1980s renowned linguist and wordsmith, Richard Lederer (The Verbivore), gave up his classroom teaching duties at the St. Paul School in New Hampshire after 27 years. His first book, Anguished English, (Fig. 1) was published at that time.¹ Some dental communications also can be anguishing. This editorial exposes some common examples of unnecessary attributions or language abuses in our profession.^2,3 For example with attributions, when original sources are not identified either by accident, laziness in seeking them, or purposefully, the historical background of a subject becomes muddled and original contributions can be lost to the knowledge of current observers. Reviewers and editors of journals submissions face such intellectual sloppiness or deceit, all too often.