The Hill newspaper's Hugo Gurdon sent the following note to staffers last week:

From: Hugo Gurdon
To: [REDACTED]
Sent: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:42:42
Subject: good usage

I need to repeat some guidelines.

Please use:

"before" rather than "prior to"

"supports" rather than "is supportive of"

"attended" rather than "was in attendance at"

"for" instead of "in favor of"

"lunch" instead of "luncheon"

"senior" or "leading" instead of "top"

Avoid "upcoming" and "potential" and "current." They are usually
redundant. There are several unhappy examples in today's paper.

Thanks, Hugo