Quote:
Originally Posted by angliholic  Melissa was under the weather because of her having been infected with enterovirus the other day; therefore, she took french leave of the party early.
To begin with, is it better to write "she took French leave from the party?"
Second, is it necessary to rewrite the base sentence to flow more smoothly? Thanks. |
First of all, I would avoid the use of the idiom "
French leave". I know it fits the context of this sentence and means "
leaving an event early without notifying the host." However, I would venture that most native English speakers do not know the meaning of this idiom...I certainly didn't and had to look it up on the internet to discover how it is used. So, it can easily be mis-understood and thought of as a slur against French people.
As far as "leave of/leave from" goes "leave from" would be the better choice.
Finally the use of "enterovirus" is difficult to understand. This is not a name for a disease...rather this is a name for genus of
(+)ssRNA viruses
Unless you are a specialist in this field of medicine there is no way for the reader of your sentence to understand what you are talking about. This word would appear only in a medical dictionary.
Use the KISS method (
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid) of writing sentences. Don't use $5 words that most people (including often the writer) don't understand unless they are necessary for clarity and you had an audience who understands them. It doesn't make the writer sound knowledgeable....it makes him sound ostentatious (to use a $5 word myself).
I would rewrite this
Melissa was under the weather because she was infected with a virus the other day; as a result, she left the party early without informing her host. 
she took french leave of the party early 
Re: she took french leave of the party early 
Linear Mode
