I came across this phrase in a report a while ago – in the advent. The writer was trying to use a fancy expression for ‘if’. But it made them look foolish.

They meant to write ‘in the event’, but they ended up talking about the religious season before Christmas, or something coming into existence. I’m not sure why anybody would want to write ‘in the event’ when you could use the word ‘if’ – 3 words when one would do! Why would you write that way?

Fancy writing, intended to show off how clever or sophisticated you are, nearly always gets in the way of clear and useful communication. And it can reflect poorly on you. Write simply.