| Phrase | Translation |
| It has been long known | I haven't bothered to check the references |
| It is known | I believe |
| It is believed | I think |
| It is generally believed | My collegues and I think |
| There has been some discussion | Nobody agrees with me |
| It can be shown | Take my word for it |
| It is proven | It agrees with something mathematical |
| Of great theoretical importance | I find it interesting |
| Of great practical importance | This justifies my employment |
| Of great historical importance | This ought to make me famous |
| Some samples were chosen for study | The others didn't make sense |
| Typical results are shown | The best results are shown |
| Correct within order of magnitude | Wrong |
| The values were obtained empirically | The values were obtained by accident |
| The results are inconclusive | The results seem to disprove my hypothesis |
| Additional work is required | Someone else can work out the |
| It might be argued that | I have a good answer to this objection |
| The investigations proved rewarding | My grant has been renewed |
| Synthesised according to standard protocols | Purchased from Sigma |
| Thanks to Joe Blow for expert technical assistance and Jane Doe for valuable discussion | Thanks to Joe Blow for doing all the work and Jane Doe for telling me what it meant |
| While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions | The experiments didn't work out, but I figured I could at least get a publication out of it |
| Accidentally strained during mounting | Dropped on the floor |
| Handled with extreme care throughout the experiments | Not dropped on the floor |
| Although some detail has been lost in reproduction, it is clear from the original micrograph | It is impossible to tell from the original micrograph |
| Presumably at longer times | I didn't take the time to find out |
| The agreement with the predicted curve is | The agreement with the predicted curve is |
| - excellent | - fair |
| - good | - poor |
| - satisfactory | - doubtful |
| - fair | - imaginary |
| - as good as could be expected | - non-existent |
| The most reliable values are those of Jones | Jones was a student of mine |
| It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding | I don't understand it. |
| Unfortunately, a quantitative theory to account for these effects has not been formulated | Neither does anybody else |
| It is hoped that this work will stimulate further work in the field | This paper isn't very good, but neither are any of the others in this miserable subject |