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I'd really appreciate it if someone can show me how to better paraphrase the italicized part in the following sentence:

I always used to call him "Professor", so I will continue to refer to him in the same way here without giving you his real name. This is not so much out of discretion on my part as that I feel it more natural: I can never think of him as anything other than "Professor" when he comes to mind.

I'm hoping to find a way to rewrite that italicized part so that I can incorporate an element of parallel writing, by which I mean I would like to find an adverbial phrase that can replace the italicized clause.

The original: ...not so much OUT OF DISCRETION (an adverbial phrase) as THAT Subject + VERB (a noun clause) The paraphrased: not so much OUT OF DISCRETION as ???? (an adverbial phrase)

I hope this makes sense.

Thank you so much for your reading and time, in advance. HK

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  • Adverbial. This is not so much discretionary, more that it feels natural.
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Commented Jun 24, 2020 at 9:51
  • You're confused by what a parallel structure is. A parallel structure would be not out of discretion (noun) as out of [something else] (noun). (The equivalent noun would be naturalness, although that doesn't sound entirely  … well, natural.)
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Jun 24, 2020 at 22:55
  • >Chasly from UK and Jason Bassford, thank you for your suggestions, both of which are really informative for me. I'm just hoping to stretch my flexibility in writing so your ideas are very helpful.
    – user389465
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 4:11

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To write it as a parallel, how about "This is not so much out of discretion on my part, as it is out of my feeling that it is more natural"? You could also write ""This is not so much out of discretion on my part, as out of my feeling that it is more natural"?

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  • >auspicious99 Thank you so much for the two rephrases and I especially like the first one. I'm just wondering if that could improve the cohesion or flow of the rhythm in the whole passage...I wish I had a better sense of styles not to mention much higher competence in English.
    – user389465
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 4:19
  • @user389465 I also prefer the first one, but it is subjective, so some people may prefer the second one (as it is shorter). Sense of style can be improved by reading widely, and you will be gradually internalising the patterns as you do that. Best wishes!
    – auspicious99
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 4:41
  • Thank you for your wishes. I'm such a slow reader that though I'm trying to read as much and as various texts as I can, it might take me many years even to grasp the least sense of proper styles, but I'll keep reading. Thanks. HK
    – user389465
    Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 23:29

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