‘The Majority of’ vs. ‘Most’

We were recently reminded of a wordy phrase that we see and hear way too often: “the majority of ….”

Example: “in the majority of cases …”

Here are a few others, found on the internet: “the majority of the cookies,” “the majority of the population,” “the majority of the rain,” “the majority of our time,” ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

Why not replace “the majority of” with something shorter, simpler, stronger and crisper: most!

Example: “in most cases…”

There! One solid word just did the work of three flabby ones!

Try giving your fingers and keyboard a rest. Better, give your readers’/listeners’ eyeballs, eardrums and brains a rest. Turn a sentence from tedious to tight.

Most of the time!

Wouldn’t you like to join the minority that eschews the tedium and verbosity of “in the majority”?