strunkify

name	strunkify
description	Make prose terse and tight in the style of The Elements of Style by Strunk & White.
argument-hint	[file path or text to tighten]

Make the given prose terse and tight in the style of The Elements of Style by Strunk & White.

Target

jj show --git

Arguments: $ARGUMENTS

Tighten the target named in the arguments if given; otherwise the prose changed in the current commit shown above; if there are no arguments and the commit has no changes, ask the user what to tighten and stop.

Workflow

1. If the text is already tight, tell the user and stop
2. Apply the passes in "Passes" to the text
3. For a file, edit it in place. Otherwise, output the revised text
4. Report the word count before and after

Passes

1. Omit needless words
   • "the fact that" -> "because" or delete
   • "in order to" -> "to"
   • "there is/are ... that/which" -> restructure around the real subject
   • "is able to" -> "can"
   • Delete throat-clearing openers: "It is worth noting that", "Basically", "Essentially", "In general"
   • Cut redundant pairs: "each and every", "first and foremost"
2. Use the active voice: "the system was tested by us" -> "we tested the system". Keep passive only when the actor is unknown or irrelevant
3. Put statements in positive form: "not honest" -> "dishonest", "did not remember" -> "forgot"
4. Use definite, specific, concrete language. Replace abstractions and hedges ("somewhat", "quite", "very") with the plain claim or a concrete detail
5. Make one paragraph serve one topic. Lead with the topic sentence
6. Use parallel structure for parallel ideas, in lists and in series
7. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end
8. Prefer short Anglo-Saxon words over long Latinate ones, unless the long word is a term of art: "utilize" -> "use", "commence" -> "start"
9. Replace em dashes with commas, semicolons, or separate sentences

These aren't exhaustive. Reason from first principles when none fits cleanly.

Guidelines

• Don't change meaning. When cutting would lose a real claim, keep it
• Preserve the author's voice and any technical terms; tighten, don't rewrite into a different register
• Preserve formatting: code blocks, links, and markup stay intact; never edit code or identifiers. Comments and docstrings are prose