How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

Mottoes to live by
Avoiding jargon
Scientific style

To continue on this lighter note (and to end this chapter), the following are some common English-language sayings as they might be expressed in scientific jargon. With a little effort, you might be able to translate these sentences into simple English:

1.   As a case in point, other authorities have proposed that slumbering canines are best left in a recumbent position.

2. An incredibly insatiable desire to understand that which was going on led to the demise of this particular Felis catus.

3. There is a large body of experimental evidence which clearly indicates that members of the genus Mus tend to engage in recreational activity while the feline is remote from the locale.

4. From time immemorial, it has been known that the ingestion of an “apple” (that is, the pome fruit of any tree of the genus Malus, said fruit being usually round in shape and red, yellow, or greenish in color) on a diurnal basis will with absolute certainty keep a primary member of the health-care establishment absent from one’s local environment.

5. Even with the most sophisticated experimental protocol, it is exceedingly unlikely that the capacity to perform novel feats of legerdemain can be instilled in a superannuated canine.

6. A sedimentary conglomerate in motion down a declivity gains no addition of mossy material.

7.   The resultant experimental data indicate that there is no utility in belaboring a deceased equine.

If you had trouble with any of these statements, here are the jargon-free translations:

1.   Let sleeping dogs lie.

2. Curiosity killed the cat.

3. When the cat’s away, the mice will play.

4. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

5. You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.

6. A rolling stone gathers no moss.

7.   Don’t beat a dead horse.

Lest we beat a dead horse, we will now end this chapter.