book-phrases

Updated: July 27, 2025

The sum of the matter is this: a tradesman's letters should be plain, concise, and to the purpose; no quaint expressions, no book-phrases, no flourishes, and yet they must be full and sufficient to express what he means, so as not to be doubtful, much less unintelligible.

Daniel Defoe - The Complete English Tradesman (1839 ed.)