This is one of the New York Times writing rules.I don't know exactly what “zombie nouns” and verbs mean here. Can someone give some examples?
Rule 6: Write With Non-Zombie Nouns and Verbs
Delve into Strunk and White’s fourth style reminder “Write with nouns and verbs” by reading about what Helen Sword calls “Zombie Nouns”:
Nouns formed from other parts of speech are called nominalizations. Academics love them; so do lawyers, bureaucrats and business writers. I call them “zombie nouns” because they cannibalize active verbs, suck the lifeblood from adjectives and substitute abstract entities for human beings.
Fight those nasty zombie nouns with vivacious verbs.
Best Answer
The New York Times article from which you quoted offers several examples and a definition:
What the writer is saying is that these so-called "zombie nouns" are overcomplicated and take away from language (in the writer's opinion). They specifically focus on the fact that they take away from verb usage. Another example from that article: