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In some types of writing, repeated use of said is considered tedious, and writers are encouraged to employ synonyms. On Wikipedia, it is more important to avoid language that makes undue implications. Said, stated, described, wrote, commented, and according to are almost always neutral and accurate. Extra care is needed with more loaded terms.
Use of quotation marks around simple descriptive terms can imply something doubtful regarding the material being quoted; sarcasm or weasel words such as supposedly or so-called, might be inferred. Permissible: Siskel and Ebert called the film interesting. Unnecessary and may imply doubt: Siskel and Ebert called the film "interesting".
"Avoid the so-called Oxford comma; say 'he ate bread, butter and jam' rather than 'he ate bread, butter, and jam'." The Economist Style Guide [49] "Do not put a comma before and at the end of a sequence of items unless one of the items includes another and. Thus 'The doctor suggested an aspirin, half a grapefruit and a cup of broth.
Plurality is most commonly shown by the ending-s (or -es), whereas possession is always shown by the enclitic-'s or, for plural forms ending in s, by just an apostrophe. Consider, for example, the forms of the noun girl. Most speakers pronounce all forms other than the singular plain form (girl) exactly the same. [note 1]
Both variants are used, but avoid mixing dotted and undotted within the same article; use "US" in articles with other national abbreviations (e.g., "UK", "UAE", "USSR"). Using United States instead of an acronym is often better formal writing style, and is an opportunity for commonality.
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In linguistics (particularly sub-fields like applied linguistics and pragmatics), a hedge is a word or phrase used in a sentence to express ambiguity, probability, caution, or indecisiveness about the remainder of the sentence, rather than full accuracy, certainty, confidence, or decisiveness. [1]
Now Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork wants to shake up things with the college football heavyweight. Not by firing coach Ryan Day — but by rethinking the approach to the entire season.