I have been engaged in a yearslong war with Grammarly over the phrase “in order to.”1 I occasionally use the grammarchecking site in my freelance writing work as a kind of “super spellcheck,” and every time it highlights the phrase and suggests, pretty sternly, that I reduce it down to “to.” And just about every time, I refuse.
Is “in order to” a clunky phrase? Sure. But I’m a rhythm-focused writer, and sometimes the extra syllables work best. Does this constant struggle against a robot copyeditor occasionally spiral me into an existential depression where I question not just my ability to write well but also my fashion sense, interior design taste, and overall Yes. And it’s not just Grammarly—there is an endless list of writing tools out there, ranging from spelling and grammar checks to the slightly creepy artificial intelligence (AI) generative tools like
