As a result of and alternatives

Variations on this useful phrase include:

As a consequence of
In consequence of (rarer)
Owing to
Due to
Because of
Thanks to (but make sure the cause is a positive thing: e.g. Do not say, Profits fell thanks to lower retail receipts [because of, due to, owing to].

You may also in some contexts use other phrases such as arising from, by virtue of (use positively), by reason of  and even plain old through.

Flout v. flaunt

To flout means to infringe, break, ignore or  disobey a law - often in an outrageous, egregious or explicit manner

To flaunt means to show off, display, often in an ostentatious and disagreeable way.

Thus, you flout the rules (break).

You flaunt your wealth (show it off in a manner calculated to engender envy in others).

Essay verbs

Academic vocabulary 

Unfortunately, both your textbooks and you seem to be rather too much in love with the verb “to state” as being the best means of referring to a comment or passage by another writer. But we have plenty of more incisive alternatives. When a writer presents an argument, and you reference it, you might say that the author (whom I here designate as male):  

Accepts  ---- Here you may be in disagreement with the writer, and about to make a point that challenges his belief, or you are observing that the author is agreeing to some fact with which he is not entirely happy, but knows he cannot change. 

Advances the idea that  ---- The writer has proposed something; put an idea on the table. 

Advocates  ---- The writer, like a lawyer or campaigner, favors a particular approach. 

Affirms  ---- The implication is you share the belief. 

Alleges  ---- Use if you are very doubtful or skeptical of his claims. 

Allows  ---- Here the writer is conceding a point, admitting an exception, permitting something that may run counter to his argument.

Announces  ---- The writer has made a statement that is in some way introductory to a point – just as one might announce an event before it takes place.

Argues  ----  The writer has constructed a thesis, made a point, presented a reasoned argument and is trying to persuade us. 

Asserts  ---- The writer states his position forcefully – your use of this word implies a certain distancing of your own view from his. 

Attests (to the view that, to the truth of the fact)  ---- The writer is speaking from personal experience, and is somehow a witness to the point he is making. 

Avows   ---- Use if the writer said whatever he said in a rather solemn spirit of conviction and belief. 

Claims  ---- The writer is saying this, but, as with allege (q.v.), you are standing back and not necessarily accepting his view. 

Concedes  ---- Like allows (q.v.), but with an even stronger sense that a contradiction has been detected and acknowledged. 

Confirms  ---- You are putting yourself on the same side as the writer and suggesting that what he says was essentially a restatement of something that is already true.

  

Contends  ---- Fancy and more forceful word for argues (q.v.), with a hint of a continuing debate in which one position is contrasted with another.  

Conveys the idea, message, notion that...  ---- Best used if the writer has succeeded in presenting an idea through descriptive or allusive language. 

Declares   ---- Use if he is making a statement with “political” or rhetorical intent. 

Demonstrates  ---- Like shows (q.v.), but the notion that something has been scientifically or logically proved is even stronger. 

Divulges/reveals  ---- Use when what the writer has said is news to you, or, at any rate, is intended by the writer to represent a discovery for whoever is reading. 

Endorses the view/idea that  ---- The writer is willing to sign off on or back an idea (which you are now about to state). 

Explains  ---- Simple enough; best to restrict your use of it to when you are essentially in agreement with his point. 

Highlights  ---- A stronger version of points out (q.v.): the writer takes one element of his argument and gives it precedence. 

Indicates  ---- Interesting word: can mean either to point out (q.v.), in which case the writer may have an instance or example in mind and has put his finger on it; or to suggest (q.v.), in which case the writer is indirectly alluding to or pointing a finger in the general direction of a concept. 

Insists  ---- He is reiterating a point already made, or is sticking to a position already implicitly or explicitly articulated. 

Maintains  ---- Like argues (q.v.),but with the implication that this is a belief personally held by the writer,to which he is more attached than if he were merely arguing it. 

Mentions  ---- Use this when you isolate one point or example from several that the writer has provided.

Notes  ---- Not as neutral as it sounds. If you say a writer notes something, then you and he are accepting that that which was noted is true and merely needed pointing out. 

Points out  ---- Like notes (q.v.), in that you and he both accept the fact at face-value. It also conveys the idea of selecting one element as being of particular importance. 

Proclaims  ---- A strong word, to be used sparingly. It refers to a public announcement of a belief.A Republic is proclaimed, as is the Second Coming of Christ. 

Professes  ---- The only thing you really profess is a belief ----  not an idea. 

Promulgates an idea, theory  ---- The writer is setting out some sort of belief and hoping that it will be widely taken up. 

Proposes  ---- Like advances (q.v.),except the writer has given a more definitive or formal structure to the idea being put forward.

Propounds  ---- Like promulgate (q.v.),except the writer is perhaps less anxious for the idea to be taken up as a popular cause. 

Puts forward the idea that   ---- Like advance and propose (q.v.). 

Recites (the reasons, causes, facts, arguments)  ---- Hard to use correctly – usually this will refer to a list, whether explicitly or implicitly referred to Often one recites words or beliefs learned by heart, and the verb carries the idea of something a little dull or self-evident that is being repeated. 

. 

Reports  ---- Limit this to where the writer is“bringing back”information from somewhere, like a journalist on the front line, or a financial analyst who has examined the books and is now presenting his findings. 

Reveals  ---- Only use this if there is some sort of ta-da! unveiling of a point in what the writer has said.  

Says   ---- A pretty neutral word, nothing at all wrong with it, and usually to be preferred to states.

Sets forth the notion, idea, arguments  ---- Arranges the arguments in an orderly manner, much as a stall-owner might set out his wares for display. 

Shows  ---- The statement is backed by some sort of evidence or proof of its veracity.

States  ---- Give this dull word a rest. 

Stresses  ---- Please use this only to isolate one aspect of what the writer has said. 

Suggests  ----  Either (i)  the author was tentative in saying it, or, (ii) you are drawing a conclusion that the author may not have explicitly stated. If used with should (iii) it is often used to indicate that the writer has offered advice - The author suggests that sugar should be treated as if it were a toxic drug.

Underlines/underscores  ---- Like stresses (q.v.). Italian students, please do not use this as if it were synonymous with “says” or “states”. 

Voices the idea that  ---- The writer is acting as spokesman for a pre-existing idea held by others. Similar to advocates. 

Please be aware that the verbs below cannot stand on their own before a noun clause; they require a direct or oblique object. 

Inform – The essay informs us about how the cargo cult culture of the Easter Islands developed.... 

Tell – By showing how a young man can be corrupted by influence writer tells us that societal norms... 

Apprise – In his examination of the individual, Larry Siedentop apprises us of several interesting facts about early Christianity... 

Advise – This is often used without an object, but it is better with one. He advises people to avoid... NOT He advises to avoid.... 

e.g. v. i.e.

e.g. means "for example" (it stands for the Latin phrase  exempli gratia). You should use it before giving an example or a partial list that illustrates your point.

i.e. means "that is" or "that is to say" or even "in other words" (it stands for the Latin phrase id est). You should use it when you want to specify, define or proffer further explanation.

Certain Roman emperors (e.g. Nero) were renowned for their sexual vice.

Nero is one such example, but by using e.g. you are letting the reader know that you might have chosen another name, such as Caligula or Tiberius (or any of them really -  they were all perverts).

 The Italian Upper House (i.e. the Senate) has the same powers as the Lower House (i.e. the Chamber of Deputies).

In this case, you are not giving an example, you are explaining that the Upper House is the same thing as the Senate and the Lower House the same as the Chamber of Deputies. You are defining the term in another way.

You do not absolutely have to put e.g. or i.e. into italics, but it  would be nice if you did.

Beg the question

I know the battle is lost here, but I want to fight a rearguard action and die trying.

Many writers,  journalists in particular  love  to say, This begs the question whether... when all they really mean is: This poses the question  or This raises the question or This asks the question.

We are better than this.

Strictly speaking, to beg the question  means to provide an explanation that is no explanation at all. It is when you use a because clause that gives no reason and thereby creates a recursive logic.

If an argument seems to be circling back on itself, it may be "begging the question,"  or, to use a less confusing phrase it is probably "assuming the conclusion."

I hate him because he is hateful.  This is begging the question. It pretends to give an explanation, but leaves us no wiser. It essentially means I hate him because, well, I think he is hateful, which is why I hate him. 

I dislike the Germans because they are European.  This begs the question (i.e. fails to answer) why the author dislikes Europeans so much (one fears his answer will probably be because they include the Germans).

Here are a few more:

God is good because, being God, He is perfect by definition.

My wife cooks better than me because I do not cook nearly as well as her.

You ate all the food in the fridge, which is unfair because we agreed to keep it  for whoever was hungriest, which is now me because now there's nothing in the fridge for me to eat.

I find the explanations in this lesson incomprehensible because I cannot understand any of them.

Pluralizing abstract nouns

If a noun denotes an abstract concept, emotion or behavior, then, as a rule, it cannot be used in the plural.

Here are a few such nouns that refer to abstract concepts:

Realization
Self-interest
Forgiveness (and almost all words ending in -ness)
Running
Greed
Violence
Cooperation
Flowing (and many gerunds)
Intelligence
Information
Contempt
Disdain
Disgust
Admiration
Respect
Envy
Hunger
Comprehension
Stupidity
Pride 
Despair 
Acceptance
Humility
Suffering
Pathos
Pity
Arrogance


Many apparently abstract nouns, however, can be pluralized as long as they are being used with non-abstract intent. The trick is to recognize when they are being so used. Usually, an explicit or  implicit concrete noun (underlined below) will be present.

 
Love (but if referring to say, delightful little children, loves)
Hate (but if referring to things that one hates, then hates is possible  - my pet hates)
Beauty (but if referring to people or animals, beauties)
Reading (but if referring to lectures and conferences, readings)
Interest (but if referring to the things one is interested in, interests)
Hope (but if referring to  the objects of one's act of hoping, hopes and dreams)
Writing (but if referring to the text that has been written, writings)
Liberty (but if referring to unwarranted, lewd or presumptuous acts, liberties)
Delight (but if referring to the objects or the causes of delight, then delights)
 

Eponymous

Means having the same name as.

The eponymous album by Metallica is therefore called Metallica. I wish I could think of a less awful band to illustrate the point.

Create

Create is a useful word that is not so much misused as overused.  High immigration creates unrest is a common sort of sentence. Try cause, breed, bring about, to be a source of, lead to, engender, generate, precipitate, forge, produce, manufacture, build, construct, develop, compose, frame, lay out, execute, determine. 

Population v. populace v. people

Beware of  the obtuse tendency to use of population  where people  or public is all that is needed. 

The “local population” is often used instead of “the local people”. It is probably simply a case of the longer word sounding more important and  technical. Well it is more technical, because it refers to a number. The population of Germany is 80 million is correct. The German population is good at making sausages is just silly. So please, people, use people or else the (general) public.

Populace is a little harder. It either means population, as in the inhabitants of a place, in which case you should prefer population; or it means the common people, the “plebs”. 

You can stop reading here. The rest in a mini-rant about something else.

Even so, as I am on the subject, allow me to observe that hoi polloi seems to be in the process of reversing its meaning to its exact opposite. It is a Greek term that means the populace, the lower orders, the plebs, the common people – the non-aristocrats. Yet, perhaps because using Greek, even if  totally wrongly, is deemed a mark of great erudition, the term is now being used to mean “the upper classes”.

This is so wrong I cannot begin to describe my disappointment. One last thing, hoi is the Greek for “the”. To write “the hoi polloi” is tantamount to writing “the the common people”, and then compounding your error by  pretending it means  “the aristocrats”, or “the the aristocrats” --  or something.