How to Apply *Semantic Hygiene* with E-Prime

If you wish to learn and understand more about E-Prime, it's history and relation to General Semantics then please visit the links contained on this web site.

For those who would like the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Short and Simple) treatment, the following summarises how to structure your thoughts including alternatives to the illustrious 'to be' verbs such as "is" and "am" etc.

Phrases that Undelete 'Point of View'

X says that, X believes, X asserts that, In X's opinion, X hold's the view, In X's view, X assumes that, In X's appreciation, In X's understanding, X perceives that, In X's perception, X insists that, X claims, From X's point of view, X said yesterday that, X pronounces that, X pronounced that, X holds that, X holds the opinion that, X has pronounced that, X thinks that, X has the view that, X maintains that, X affirms that, X made it known that, X maintains that, X asserts that, X alleges that, X suggests that, X imagines that, X estimates that, In X's estimation, X claims that, X observes that, According to X, X declares that, X has declared that, In X's observation, X observes that, X contends that, X has argued that

Phrases that Replace 'to be'

accords with, acts like, acts as if, represents, resembles, seems like, simulates, apes, approaches, approximates, approximates to, behaves like, smells like, sounds like, symbolizes, takes after, tallies with, tastes like, typifies, caricatures, coincides with, compares with, conforms with, copies, correlates with, corresponds to, corresponds with, cross maps to, depicts, duplicates, emulates, epitomizes, equals, equates to, illustrates, imitates, impersonates, likens to, looks like, matches, means, echoes, mirrors, models, moves like, paraphrases, passes for, performs like, portrays, poses like, reflects, acts in the manner of, postures in the style of, imitates the behavior of, behaves in the manner of, has the attributes of, behaves in like manner to, can be modeled upon, demonstrates the behavior of, echoes the behavior of, maneuvers in the style of, patterns itself on, matches that of, can be modeled as, employs tactics like, follows the pattern of, follows the behavior of, follows the same patterns as, follows the path of, has the attributes of, has similar characteristics to, has the same characteristics as, has some of the same characteristics as, reflects the behavior of, replicates the behavior of, has some of the characteristics of (Non-exhaustive list.)

Example: The dog "is" stupid. becomes… In my view, the dog behaves stupidly.

Recomposed from an original E-Prime Tutorial by Dan Scorpio.

Leave a Comment

Cleaning Up Action-Zapping Thoughts

As I become increasingly frustrated by the lack of action I will now realise any apparent insanity in certain thoughts conceived in Standard English and hopefully remove the paradoxes and neuroses with English Prime or at least, to get things debatable again with et cetera.

SE: There is no right or wrong time to get moving.
EP: In my view, the "right" or "wrong" time to get moving equates to "now" or at a scheduled time "later" due to any constraints when working around others – anything else would correspond with irrational procrastinations leading to time lost in the pursuit of happiness thus causing unhappiness during limbo-lethargic states.

SE: The ulimate failure is death.
EP: It would seem to me that death approximates with "the ultimate failure" in life which in itself should not represent a reason to allow things I consider close to death such as procrastination to impede on my actions.

SE: An excerpt from Gangsters Paradise by Coolio:

"Death ain’t nothing but a heartbeat away;
I'm living life do or die, what can I say;
I'm 23 now but will I live to see 24;
The way things is going I don't know"

EP: My version, although not as musical perhaps:

Death seems to me like nothing but a heartbeat away;
I equate my life to doing or dying, what can I say;
I have reached "23" but will I live to see "24";
The way things come across now I should know;

Quotations:

SE: "Failure is not the only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others." ~Jules Renard (1864 – 1910)
EP: It would seem to me that failure does not represent the only punishment for laziness because I cannot deny the inherent envy that comes from the success of others due to their ability to have acted where I may decide to have not in a society that protects individual rights to achieve "anything" without infringing on the rights of other individuals.

SE: "Idleness and lack of occupation tend – nay are dragged – towards evil." ~Hippocrates (460 BC – 377 BC)
EP: It would seem to me that idleness and a lack of occupation would come across as "evil" leading to such conditions as anxiety and depression.

SE: "Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy." ~Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948)
EP: Indolence seems to me like a step towards greatness for it acknowledges the pain of something currently which we then may want to move away from though bearing the pain for the time it takes to progress; it would then seem like the act of doing equates to producing happiness.

SE: "He that is busy is tempted by but one devil; he that is idle, by a legion." ~Thomas Fuller (1608 – 1661)
EP: It would seem to me that a "busy person" has but one personal demon that would approximate with the thought of boredom caused by idleness; however the "idle person" has a multitude of personal demons such as the fear of acting out of a fear of failure or a fear of change etc.

SE: "Luck is always the last refuge of laziness and incompetence." ~James Cash Penney (1875 – 1971)
EP: In my view, luck equates with believing in external "authorities" to solve your own problems of laziness and incompetence such as expecting a miracle like winning the lottery to make your already lazy and incompetent life more tolerable rather then "better" per se.

Most of the original quotes above in my opinion approximate with insanity due to high levels of abstraction which gave me a "WTF?!" response when actually trying to understand them at first glance.

Do the English Prime responses/equivalents demystify the messages in any way? In my view, unequivocally yes.

This would seem to me like a pre-packaged e-primed (i.e. sane) quotation:

"Know the true value of time: snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." ~Lord Chesterfield (1694 – 1773)

Thank you Lord Chesterfield for enlightening us with your moment of sanity and clarity.

Comments (21)

Interlude: The Non-Sense

Image and video hosting by TinyPic.com

"Some of them don't even know they're dumb." –how dogmatic though somehow true in an exclusively warped-humour kind of way.

Leave a Comment

« Newer Posts · Older Posts »