bad epithets & inelegant variation

the epithet, which i hate so much in badfic and have ranted about on several occasions over the years, ranted about by other people!

wikipedia-surfing brought me to elegant variation, a term coined by henry watson fowler, author of the british style guide fowler's modern english usage. not only epithets come under the rant, but all gratuitous use of synonymous words or phrases to avoid repetition (or as fowler says, "for the sake of variety").

It is the second-rate writers, those intent rather on expressing themselves prettily than on conveying their meaning clearly, & still more those whose notions of style are based on a few misleading rules of thumb, that are chiefly open to the allurements of elegant variation. [...] The fatal influence [...] is the advice given to young writers never to use the same word twice in a sentence — or within 20 lines or other limit.

in a beautiful essay on the subject, entitled "airs and graces", fowler critiques a number of examples of misuse, mainly journalistic, with dry wit and admirable clarity.

These elephantine shifts distract our attention from the matter in hand; we cannot follow His Majesty's movements, for wondering what the King will be called next time; will it be plain Edward VII? or will something be done, perhaps, with 'the Emperor of India'? When the choice lies between monotonous repetition on the one hand and clumsy variation on the other, it may fairly be laid down that of two undesirable alternatives the natural is to be preferred to the artificial.