❄️ Writing with New Scientist: "thing" ❄️

"Thing" is a beautiful, all-encompassing shell noun - you can use it to speak about anything. "People spend too time on social media. This is a bad thing." Or, "Prolonged exposure to noise leads to such negative things as anxiety and insomnia."

Unfortunately, this word is completely non-academic or even anti-academic. In academic writing, we need more precise shell nouns, like: measure, trend, initiative, factor, development, consequence etc.

🗒 Here is a piece from the student's paragraph:

"Minor failures may result in frustration, disappointment and anger. These, in turn, would contribute to things like anxiety and depression."

Instead of "things," we could say, "issues" or even "mental health issues."

🗒 Here is another paragraph written by a student. This time, we see two examples of "things." How would you rephrase each one?

"Believing their potential is limitless is likely to reduce people's fear of failure, thus making them more daring and less inhibited. This, in turn, could lead them to muster the courage to attempt [1] things they have always wanted but never dared to try, such as starting their own business or learning a foreign language. Apart from enabling individuals to embark on new endeavors, the belief could also be a help along the way, as it will motivate them to persevere and try harder, regardless of any obstacles and setbacks. This amount of effort can't fail to bring at least some positive results. Even if they don't achieve everything they set out to accomplish, people will still hone their skills, increase their expertise and develop themselves, which can only be a good [2] thing."

Don't limit yourself to shell nouns. Be creative. And make other necessary changes. 📝