[clwk]

I think we have Hemingway to blame for this meme. I wonder why so very many authors feel the need to explicitly write these 'simple ode to simplicity' pieces — where each sentence in the exhortation has itself been optimized iteratively until no waste remains, so no lexical pixel has gone to waste. Sentences like 'Simple writing also lasts better,' are the unfortunate artifacts of this process. These are like the Teslas of brevity-pornographers: a mere five words attesting to hours of careful whittling; a praise-worthy awkwardness that could never have been produced on a native-speaker's first try.

[randomsearch]

Na, I think he just got that wrong. If he revisited the essay after a few years he’d probably spot it. Stuck out for me too. But a kind of “snow blindness” develops towards written content after a while, and mistakes slip through.