Plain
English refers to writing (or speaking) that is
clearly understandable by almost anyone. When we speak about the
techniques of writing Plain English, we are referring to some of the
techniques known to make writing clear and effective. These techniques
are found in such studies as style, composition and rhetoric. The
selected techniques for Plain English are those which:
Are easily taught to writers and
Can greatly improve the writer's ability to write in a way
that their intended readers can understand.
The techniques include:
Use words that most of your readers will easily understand.
Keep your sentences as short as your ideas permit, and not
too long for your readers.
Use you
when referring to your readers.
Be positive rather than negative.
Avoid the passive voice.
Plain English documents intended for the general reader have an average
sentence length of 15-20 words
word length of about 1.5 syllables
The average sentence length of published documents is about 15-25
words. This is an average, and the actual lengths of sentences varies.
In Plain English, sentences are usually shorter than 30 words. Such
long sentences are the exception.
Who
can benefit from learning Plain English?
Plain
English is intended for all writers whoever their readers are. Writers
wishing to communicate with the general reader need to produce material
which largely consists of simple words and is written in relatively
short sentences. Writers wishing to communicate with professionals have
to use complex vocabulary and sometimes complex sentences to fit
the needs of the subject. However, readers have long complained that
the difficulty with professional journals is not so much the subject
matter - technical vocabulary - as the way it is presented -
the
grammar, style and the use of unfamiliar or long non-technical
words.
The Reader
Whether writing is clear and effective, or not, depends on the intended
reader.
For example, a report for post-graduate quantum
physicists is judged as clear and effective, if it is clear and
effective in communicating its message to post-graduate quantum
physicists.
However, if such a report were intended
for the general reader, it
would probably be described as dense and obscure. Similarly, a message
about a recent scientific discovery would
be written in different words and using different sentence forms when
written for a professional journal than it would be written for a
newspaper. And a notice on a wall is clear and effective when it is
written
in a way that a passer-by can take in its meaning at a glance.
In
general, a message is clear and effective when it is written using
words that are familiar to the intended reader and uses sentences of a
reasonable length, meaning that the intended reader is willing and able
to understand them. When expressing complicated ideas, the words may be
long and the sentences long too, but they should not be longer than the
subject matter demands. Sentences covering two pages, are too long for
any purpose. And too many short sentences produce a choppy effect, and
may make the ideas harder to understand.
When
writing for particular readers, you need to note whether they will take
the trouble to understand what you have written - using study
techniques
and reference books, in which case they will probably be your students
or professional colleagues - or whether
they
will read your message once only and either understand it
or misunderstand it. In which case, they will take in
some
other message and wrongly attribute it to you. When you can expect
your
readers - or, to be frank, require or compel them - to study what you
have written, you can use words they will not at first
understand
and you can use challenging sentence structures, but when you cannot
expect your readers to do more than read what
you
have written in one go, you need to use simpler
writing .
The Rules of
Plain English
Do
not "if" and "but", unnecessarily: be
simple and direct
The
tendency of the writer to try to cover every case should be resisted.
In order to write Plain English, you should be simple and direct,
giving enough information for your reader, and no more.
Consider this:
... Cells are 'cut' free
and transported away to a second site. Here cell adhesion is increased
and the cell is 'pasted' into its new location. The cell divides and
with better adhesion stays put and a secondary cancer develops. (This
is a simple description but the principle is correct).
From: The British Society for Cell Biology,
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/schools/life_sciences/biomed/bscb/softcell/ecm.html
In
writing clearly about complex subjects for the general reader, the
writer needs to be simple and direct. This means giving sufficient
information, but not too much. The writer of the above excellent
example, adds a rider, This
is a simple description, but the principle is correct. The
author also puts the words 'cut' and 'pasted' in quotes to indicate, to
more knowledgeable readers, that these words are used to simplify.
[However, it is not always necessary to use quotes and add riders.]
Different words would have been used had the writer been writing for a
more technical audience. The above mentioned article is effective
writing on technical matters for the general reader because it uses
simple words (rather than the exact technical words) and shorter
sentences. It is also simple and direct.
Example
1
When
we seek to include many conditions and possibilities and exceptions in
our writing, we start to if and but, making our writing more difficult
to understand. Sometimes, we do not need to mention everything, and it
is better to be simple and direct (even if this means we need to trust
readers to use their common sense).
Almost always, any statement we make has exceptions. For instance, our
advice might be:
Write short sentences!
Now, we do not mean you should make every sentence about 15 words all
the time. So we might revise (and start iffing and but-ing):
Write short sentences most
of the time.
Now
this isn't exactly what we mean, either. We have to write longer
sentences for a technical audience than we do for
the
general reader. So, for the sake of clarity and accuracy, we might try
saying:
Write short sentences most
of the time when writing for the general reader.
But
this sentence may make some readers ask the question, "What about when
writing technical material for specialist readers? Does this rule
apply?" So perhaps we had better write:
Write
short sentences most of the time when writing for the general reader.
When writing for more specialist readers, keep you sentences as short
as your ideas demand.
This may not be too bad (especially if
we stop thinking of and adding other cases and exceptions), but the
writing has become much more complex. The expression, "as short as your
ideas demand" is a bit vague. Joseph Williams tells use we can
sometimes write about complex ideas using simple sentences, but often,
we can't. Often complex ideas demand complex sentences. However, we
want the general rule keep
sentences as short as possible to apply to all modern
writing. We do not want to let technical writers off the hook: they
need to avoid too
long sentences, and keep their sentences (relatively) short. Also they
need to avoid writing their sentences too short. So we try again:
Write short sentences most
of the time when writing for the general
reader. When writing for more specialist readers, keep you sentences as
short as your ideas demand. Do not make your sentences longer
than they need to be - or shorter!
We
might realize that the advice given applies to text, and what has been
said of specialist material applies just as much to general material.
We can go on and on.
...
We may decide to write simply and directly:
Write short sentences!
And trust the reader uses his common sense. We can slip in
further points of clarification earlier or later in the text.
The point is a writer must bite her lip, and resist the urge to be more
precise and detailed than her readers demand.
Word Choice
As
writers, we should choose the most suitable word for our readers. Some
suggestions can be given on how to do this, but the suggestions are not
rules. In the end, the writer is the judge. On this page, we suggest
choosing short, familiar words.
According to Ernest Gowers, quoting Fowler, we should prefer the:
Familiar word
Concrete word
Single word
Short word
Saxon word
These are in order of importance, so being familiar is most important,
and being Saxon, the least important.
For instance, in place of caliginous,
we might prefer foggy,
because it meets the first four conditions, and it is, at least, not
Latin. On this page, I consider only familiar and short words.
Use Familiar Words
You communicate more
effectively when you use words that are familiar to your readers.
Familiar words are often short words, but not always: for instance, impossible
is a long word, but it is also a familiar one. Use familiar words does
not mean
you should use only
words found in the local newspaper, but says you should use only words
found in the material your readers commonly read. In some
cases, this means you use words which are unknown to the general
reader, but familiar to your particular readers. For instance, you
might
use apiary
when writing for bee-keepers, but prefer bee-hive when
writing for general readers.
When readers
do not understand a word, they may guess its meaning. They may
realise they are doing this or they may be unaware they have guessed -
often they relate the unknown word to a similar known word. If the word
is similar to a
word they know, they will assume the unknown word means about the same
as the word they do know. For instance, they may think an exhaustive study
was one that was tiring,
because exhaustive
is similar to the familiar word exhausting.
In this case, the reader's understanding may be similar to the writer's
intended meaning - if the study was exhausting, then the investigators
must have worked hard on the study to get so tired, so they probably
left no stone unturned (they were exhaustive). The writer and the
reader have struck lucky, even though the reader has misunderstood the
word.
However, the writer might not be so lucky. For instance, the word compliment is more
familiar than the word complement.
If we read "She rose quickly in the company because she complements
him in his work", some readers might think that she is very flattering
to him - compliments
him - and might view the sentence negatively:
thinking he is vain and corruptible, promoting her above more able
colleagues because she makes him feel bigheaded and puffed-up like a
frog, and she is a bootlicker and a creep because she seeks power
through her feminine wiles and not through her intelligence and
ability; they may think this instead of correctly thinking her
strengths in business make up for his weaknesses, so together they make
a powerful team. Even though further statements might correct this
misunderstanding, the harm has been done, and - at the least - the
reader is confused, and - in the worst case - the reader develops
strong negative feelings. These negative feelings might be
hard to dispel, clouding further understanding. While making no error
in grammar or diction the writer has failed to get through to
the
readers and has led them to feel the opposite of what he intended. The
moral is this: if readers do not know the meaning of a word, they will
guess it, perhaps wrongly, and if you need to avoid the dangers of
misunderstanding, you will choose your words carefully.
The work remains a
nonpareil: direct, correct and delightful. - New Yorker
The delightful word nonpareil
is not a familiar word to some readers. It means a person or thing with
no equal. For general readers, we prefer unequalled or peerless.
Examples
Example
1
We train our students to
analyse technical reports with some sophistication.
The
reader might wonder whether this means that students are taught to
analyse in a sophisticated manner, or to analyse sophisticated
technical reports.
If we go for a simpler word than sophisticated, we might prefer to
write either:
We train our students to
correctly analyse technical reports.
Here we replace sophisticated
with correctly.
Or
We train our students to
analyse complex technical reports.
Here we prefer complex
to sophisticated.
Our choice depending on our intended meaning. In either case, we prefer
the more familiar word.
Example
2
Perspicuity in prose
writing is enhanced through the felicitous choice of lexical units.
As felicitous means appropriate, and perspicuity means clarity, we
might prefer:
The right choice of words
improves clarity.
Example
3
For realists, the world is
a set of definite facts, which obtain
independently of humans.
Obtain has
the meaning of exist or be. In this use, the word is not a familiar
word although it is a short word.
For realists, the world is
a set of definite facts, which are
independent of humans.
Example
4
Opinion leaders often play
major roles in spurring the adoption of innovations
Although the
word spurring is short and concrete - it makes us think of horse riding, which seems out of place here -
and although it is a familiar word, it seems a bit strong. Also spurring the adoption
(of innovations) seems a little odd. So the longer, Latin
word,
encouraging, seems more suitable. The noun and verb in the nominalization, adoption, can be
extracted and a doer people supplied to give us encouraging people to adopt.
Finally, we might write the phrase with familiar words
new ideas and practices for innovations. This gives us:
Opinion leaders often play
major roles in encouraging people to adopt new ideas and practices.
Example
5
The following example comes from a list:
Expediting design and
development
Expedite is somewhat vague, meaning
do correctly,
speed up, or
send off.
Guessing the meaning intended is speed up, we have:
Speeding up design and
development
Speeding up
is a shorter and more familiar expression. It is also clearer than the
original.
Familiar Word
Equivalents
The
list shows that sometimes a less familiar or longer word can be
replaced with a shorter more familiar one. I am not suggesting that the
more familiar or shorter word is better or more appropriate in every
(or any) context. Nor am I suggesting that the given familiar word is
the better of other familiar words in a given context. Also, the
example word may be used in other senses than those indicated by the
familiar word or words given. Careful writers should consult a good
dictionary, or two, and a good book of synonyms (sometimes called a
thesaurus).
[The above is an example of giving vent to iffing and butting!]
Example
Familiar Word
abbreviate
shorten
abduct
kidnap
aberration
oddity, oversight, straying
abject
hopeless, worthless
abridge
shorten
abrogate
stop, do away with
abscond
run off
abundant
more than enough
accentuate
stress
accommodating
helpful
accost
waylay
acumen
cleverness
affable
friendly
affluent
rich
aggrandize
increase
aggregate (n)
group, mass, sum
aggregate (v)
group
alacrity
quickly and willingly
algid
cold
alleviate
to ease, lessen
altercation
argument
amalgamation
union, blob
ambivalent
having mixed feelings
ameliorate
to ease, to improve
amiable
friendly
amorphous
shapeless
anomaly
freak, oddity, rarity
apparitional
ghostly
arbitrator
judge
assuage
ease
audacious
forward, rash
augment
add
austere
stern, grim, plain
baleful
harmful
belligerent
War-like
benevolent
kind
berate
tell off
bereft
without
blandish
coax, entice
bloated
swollen
boisterous
loud
brumal
wintry
brusque
blunt, gruff
burgeon
bloom, grow
cacophony
noise
cajole
urge, coax
caliginous
misty, dark
callous
unfeeling
calumny
slander, back-biting
camaraderie
fellowship
capricious
changeable
cavort
frolic
circumspect
wary
credulity
gullibility
cursory
hasty careless
daunting
scary, off putting
dearth
a lack
defunct
dead, gone away
deleterious
harmful
desolate
barren, heartbroken
despondent
downcast
destitute
in poverty
differentiate
contrast, tell apart
dilapidated
run down
diligent
Hard-working, painstaking
diminish
reduce
diminutive
miniature
discreet
careful
discrete
individual
disparage
criticize
dissonance
clash
divergent
different, moving apart
diverse
varied
divisive
causing opposition, troublemaking
enervate
weaken, tire
ethereal
Airy-fairy, heavenly
euphoric
overjoyed
exacerbate
worsen
excursion
trip
exemplary
excellent, good
exigent
necessary, urgent
exorbitant
excessive
fabricate
invent
facile
easy
fallacious
mistaken
fatuous
silly
fecund
fertile
formidable
mighty, fearful
fortuitous
lucky
hapless
unlucky
hiatus
break
hiemal
wintry
hierarchy
ruling body, pecking order
impecunious
destitute
incisive
direct
inextricable
entangled
ingenious
original
inimical
hostile
iniquity
wickedness
innocuous
harmless
invective
tongue-lashing
inveterate
die-hard
irascible
bad-tempered, touchy
inspissated
thick
juxtapose
place together
lachrymose
tearful
loquacious
talkative
malleable
easily shaped
mandatory
necessary, required
mendacious
dishonest
munificent
generous, open handed
mutability
changeable
nefarious
evil
noisome
foul
obdurate
unyielding
obfuscate
obscure
obsequious
creep, grovelling
ostracize
banish
paragon
model
pedagogue
schoolteacher
pellucid
clear
peregrinate
wander
pertinacious
dogged
petulance
sulky, bad-tempered
portentous
sinister, amazing
prestidigitation
sleight of hand
presumptuous
oversure, cheeky
propensity
tendency
propriety
decency
protean
changing
pulchritude
beauty
punctilious
precise, fussy
putrid
rotten
quotidian
daily
ratiocinate
think
recalcitrant
defiant
recapitulate
repeat
redoubtable
mighty, fearful
repudiate
reject
restitution
repayment
scurrilous
foul, vulgar
seminal
original
serendipity
luck
strenuous
demanding, energetic
supplant
oust, unseat
surfeit
glut
surreptitious
secret, sly
surrogate
stand in, stopgap, deputy
sycophant
flatterer
taciturn
reserved, aloof
tenuous
weak
toothsome
tasty
torpid
lazy
torrid
hot
tortuous
winding
truculent
violent
umbrage
offence
usurp
oust
variegate
diversify
veracious
honest
vicarious
second-hand, acting, indirect
vicissitudes
twists and turns
List
of Confusing Words
Familiar words make writing
clearer. Some words are more likely to cause confusion and
misunderstanding, than other
words. The list below contains
examples of words
that might be confusing. Depending on the readers, therefore, you might
choose to avoid confusing words, preferring a less confusing word or
phrase. The list illustrates that some words can be confusing, and the
writer should be aware of these possible confusions. The point is that
an unfamiliar word might be confused with a similar familiar
word.
Confusing
Words
Confusing
Familiar
Comment
allusion
hint
Some readers might confuse
an allusion
with a mental problem or with a false perception.
complement
supplement, round off
This word might be
confused with compliment.
continuous
without
stopping; non stop
A
siren wails continuously,
without stopping, but a ticking sound occurs continually,
or again and again.
continual
frequent, again and again
credible
believable, likely
If
a story is credible,
then we believe it. A person's behaviour is creditable
when it is worthy and good.
creditable
praiseworthy, good
discreet
diplomatic, wary
In physics, we
might speak of discrete
particles. If we tell a secret to someone, we expect them to be discreet.
discrete
separate, individual
defuse
defuse
The
word defuse
is OK, but diffuse
might be confused with defuse by some
readers.
diffuse
spread throughout,
scatter; wordy
exceptionable
nasty
An
exceptionable
person is bad in some way; perhaps, hostile. An exceptional
person is not bad in any way; they are simply different.
exceptional
out of the ordinary
exhaustive
complete
Some readers believe that
exhaustive
means tiring, because they confuse it with the more familiar
exhausting.
grisly
horrible, gory
It
is just that a grisly
story might lead some readers to expect bears at some stage.
grizzle
grumble
grizzly
grizzly bear
hoard
a store of something
To
avoid misunderstandings with these words, a synonym might be preferred.
horde
mob
militate (against)
to affect
Some
British
authorities believe that the use of militate as a substitute for
mitigate is an American idiom: most American authorities believe the
confusion of these words is an error in both languages.
mitigate
to lessen (severity)
ordinance
law
There
is a difference between law and cannons!
ordnance
guns, cannons, etc
paedophile
child abuser
While
these words have quite different meaning, the reading-challenged tend
to confuse them, with serious results.
paediatrician
children's doctor
pedagogue
teacher, educator
perquisite
perk, tip or gratuity
Some
years ago, a business student asked me what "management perquisites"
were. I was unsure, but we guessed they were "perks".
prerequisite
requirement
prescribe
prescribe
The
two words have almost opposite meanings. Prescribe is well-known;
proscribe is used less frequently.
proscribe
forbid
shear
cut the wool from sheep,
very thin
The
pairs of words
are homophones, words that sound the same, but are spelt differently,
and have a different meaning. Confusion can occur in speech, and in
writing when we are unsure of the spelling of these words.
sheer
swerve
stationary
not moving
stationery
writing materials, etc
storey
floor
story
an account of events
titillate
to excite
Confusing
these words
can have amusing results - for bystanders. For general readers,
titivate might be better replaced with smarten up.
titivate
to smarten up
tortuous
twisting and turning
A
tortuous journey might also be pleasant, although a torturous journey
is not.
torturous
agonizing
turbid
clouding, opaque (liquid)
Turbid
writing is
vague and unclear. Turgid writing is wordy and perhaps written more to
impress than to communicate. Writing may be turgid but not turbid, and
vice versa.
turgid
pompous, wordy
unsociable
not enjoying the company
of others
If
you work late, you
work unsocial hours, but it doesn't mean you are unsociable - you might
dislike working these hours and prefer to socialize.
unsocial
interfering with social
life
venal
corruptible, bribeable
As
the more familiar word is venereal,
this might taint the meaning of the other two, when the reader does not
understand the words.
venial
a non damming sin
venereal
related to sex
Use
Shorter Words
Shorter words
are easier to read than longer ones. This is because it takes less time
to move the eye over (and to sub vocalize) shorter words. Therefore,
when the reader is expected to read text without much effort,
the writer should prefer the shorter word to the longer one. Text
containing many long words is dense and reading such text is much
harder than reading text that mainly contains shorter words. On the
other hand, text that
contains many short words can be monotonous. When the writer needs to
communicate a message quickly to readers (such as a notice), the writer
should use very short words. Even though writers of technical articles
use longer words, they would make their writing less dense by
balancing their use of longer words with shorter ones.
How
to Write Shorter Words
The writer can:
Use a dictionary, which might indicate a shorter expression.
Read the etymology of the word in a good dictionary, which
might suggest a simpler word or expression.
Use a thesaurus to find a shorter word, which will probably
be two word substitute.
List
of Shorter Word Equivalents
In
Plain English, long words are words with 3 or more syllables. Shorter
words are
easier to read than longer ones. Where appropriate, you might prefer
the shorter word to the longer one. Because a phrase containing shorter
words is more readable than a longer word - even though the phrase
itself is longer - you might prefer the phrase to the longer word.
Shorter Word
Equivalents
Long Word
Shorter Words
accordingly
so
additional
more, extra
adequate
enough
alleviate
lessen, reduce, ease
available
at hand, handy, in stock
concerning
about
consequently
so
contribute
lead to, give to, add to
endeavour
try
entitlement
right
establish
set up
exponential
rapidly increasing
incidence
rate, amount
necessitate
call for
nevertheless
even so, however
nonetheless
even so, however
obtain
get
purport
claim
reduction
cut
Shorter
Sentences
When dense writing contains sentences which we consider too long, the
easiest way to make sentences clearer and more effective is to shorten
them. Also, we might do this when trying to understand the writing
of others, for instance, when studying a textbook. When all else fails,
we might convert long sentences into very short sentences to clarify
our thoughts, recombining them later in the light of our new
understanding.
Young students are taught to write longer sentences by joining shorter
ones with words such as and,
but and or. We can shorten
long sentences through the opposite process.
Sentences containing and,but, or orcan often be
shortened by ending the sentence before these words, and beginning a
new one after capitalising, for instance:
Jack went up the hill and
Jill went up the hill.
Jack went up the hill. And Jill went up the hill.
Sentences
containing although, while, etc
Sentences containing subordinating conjunctions such as while
or although
can be split by dropping the subordinating conjunction, turning the
comma into a full stop and adding expressions like but, however and then to the other
sentence. For instance:
Although he did not like
it, he ate the meal anyway.
He did not like the meal. But
he ate it anyway.
While
mature students should not be encouraged to write like 12 year olds,
they should know how to write simple sentences when necessary Mature students
should not be encouraged to write like 12 year-olds. However, they should
know how to write simple sentences when necessary.
He would not eat his food,
because
he did not like it.
He would not eat his food. (For )He did not like it.
They could not give the patient water to drink, because
she did not have a swallow reflex. They could not give
the patient water to drink. The
reason for this was because she did not have a swallow
reflex.
Before
he went home, he visited his aunt. He went home. Before that, he
visited his aunt. He visited his
aunt. Then
he went home.
She carefully tested the mixture before
she injected it into the patient. She carefully tested
the mixture. Then
(After that)
she injected it into the patient.
Sentences
containing which or that.
Long sentences can sometimes be split where they contains words like which, that, who, what, etc.
Effective
writing is concise, which means it does not contain unnecessary words;
cohesive, which means that one sentence flows from the previous one;
and coherent, which means the sentences keep to the topic.
Effective
writing is concise. It does not contain unnecessary words. It is also
cohesive. That is, one sentence flows from the previous one. And it is
coherent. The sentences keep to the topic.
Examples:
Shortening Long Sentences
Example
1
While
there are exceptions, a re-draught containing shorter words and shorter
sentences is much more readable and easy to understand than the
original, especially for lay readers. (27 words)
A
re-draught containing shorter words and shorter sentences is much more
readable than the original. It is also easier to understand,
especially for lay readers. Of course, there are exceptions.
Example
2
Such redundant expressions
and their attendant “To be” verb, can often be
eliminated to good effect, simply by omitting the expression, finding
the real subject of the sentence, and using a real verb to make it a
"doer".
Such
redundant expressions and their attendant "To be" verb, can often be
eliminated to good effect. First, omit the expression. Then, find the
real subject of the sentence, and finally, use a real verb to make it a
"doer".
Alternatively, we can use a list:
Such
redundant expressions and their attendant "To be" verb, can often be
eliminated to good effect:
Omit the redundant expression,
Find the
real subject of the sentence, and
Use a real verb to make it a
"doer".
Example
3
What you need to do in
conflict resolution is to bring the people who believe that the answer
to their political ambitions will be achieved through violence into a
frame of mind that they accept that their political ambitions will be
delivered by politics. (44 words)
To
resolve conflict, you need to bring those people who believe violence
is the answer to their political ambitions to believe they can achieve
them better through politics. (29 words)
Or
What
you need to do in conflict resolution is to bring the people who
believe that the answer to their political ambitions will be achieved
through violence into a different frame of mind. A frame of mind in which
they
accept that their political ambitions will be delivered by politics.
Or
What
you need to do in conflict resolution is to affect a certain group of
people. That is, those people who believe that the answer to their
political ambitions will be achieved through violence. They need to be
brought into a frame of mind that they accept that their political
ambitions will be delivered by politics.
Cut
Unnecessary Words
The more words we need to read to understand a sentence, the harder it
is to grasp its meaning. This is especially true when the extra words
supply no extra meaning.
You can reduce redundancy (long-windedness) in your writing by:
Replace a phrase with a word meaning the same thing
Delete words that have little or no meaning, and words that
are implied by other words in the sentence
The following example has many unnecessary words and round-about
expressions:
In
the eventuality that a threat of danger occurs during the period of
time the operator is on duty, the operator should press the alarm
button with the purpose of alerting other people with the intention of
causing them to exit away from the building. (43 words)
In the eventuality that =if
a threat implies danger
during the period of time=when
with the purpose of = to
with the intention of causing =to cause
to exit away from = to exit
This gives us
If
a threat occurs when the operator is on duty, the operator should press
the alarm button to alert other people to cause them to exit the
building.
However, we might replace everything after alarm button by and exit the building.
The notice is directed to the operator. Notices to others might say,
"If you hear the alarm, exit the building fast." This gives us:
If a threat occurs when
the operator is on duty, the operator should press the alarm button and
leave the building.
(21 words)
If a threat occurs, press
the alarm button and exit the building! (8 words).
Replace
a phrase with a word, or words, meaning the same thing
The following table gives examples of wordy
ways of saying what we could have said just as clearly in fewer words.
Wordy Expressions
Wordy
Better
as a consequence of
because, for
commensurate with
consistent with
despite the fact that
although, despite
for the purpose of
to
if this is not the case
if not
if this is the case
if so
in accordance with
following
in conjunction with
with
in order to
to
in the eventuality of
if
in the light of
according to
in view of the fact that
because
on the assumption that
if
on the subject of
about, concerning
prior to
before
to the degree that
relating to
about
under any other circumstances than
unless, except
with reference to
about, concerning
Delete
Words having Little or No Meaning
Some wordy expressions can simply be deleted.
Wordy
Expressions
Wordy Expression
Example
Improved
etc
She took such items as
water, food, clothing, etc.
She took such items as
water, food and clothing.
(such
items as implies we are mentioning some items, so etc is redundant).
the amount of
The amount of disagreement
between the two groups is excessive.
The two groups disagree
excessively.
the case of
In the case of Jack, we
are undecided.
We are undecided about
Jack
the characteristics of
They are studying the characteristics of
the problem.
They are studying the
problem.
the definition of
The
definition of mind is
that which is non-physical.
Mind is that which is
non-physical.
the issue of
Dealing with the issue of
corruption of proving problematical.
Dealing with corruption is
proving problematical.
the level of
The level of
pollution in the county is very high.
Pollution is the county is
very high.
the nature of
The nature of the
misuse of our products makes us concerned.
The misuse of our products
makes us concerned.
the occurrence of
The occurrence of
high levels of radiation in the food results from carelessness at the
plant.
High levels of radiation
in the food results from carelessness at the plant.
Carelessness in the plant results in radioactive food.
the system of
The system of doctrine
is heresy.
Students may notice in the course of discussion that the judicial
branch appears the least affected by
the system of checks and balances.
The doctrine is heresy.
Students may notice in the course of discussion that the judicial
branch appears the least affected bychecks and balances.
the use of
New regulations governing the use of child car
seats came into force on 18 September 2006.
New regulations governing
child car seats came into force on 18 September 2006.
Adjectives
and Adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs can often be omitted without affecting the
sentence. When the provide little information, they can be deleted
without affecting the meaning.
He ran fast down the hill.
Usually we run fast, rather than slowly, so fast can be
omitted.
Make
Your Subjects Doers
Refer
to the Reader as You
Writing becomes easier when you refer to the reader as you.
When you do this, you are less likely to use nominalizations, passives
and round-about
expressions. Your writing will be more coherent,
because you use you
as the subject of your sentences. Similarly, refer
to yourself the writer, or your organisation, as I or we. This technique
of using pronouns can be a very simple and effective way of making your
writing clearer and more cohesive.
Make
Your Subjects Doers
Grammar
teachers often teach children that the subject of a sentence is "the
doer of the action". This is true for effective sentences, but not for
ineffective ones. When the subject of a sentence isn't "the doer", we
should change the sentence so the subject is "the doer". A simple way
to do this is to use "you" and "we" as the "doers" in the sentence.
Customer satisfaction
depends on employee courtesy.
Noting
that satisfaction is a nominalization, we can identify the real verb as
satisfy. We
can ask, "Who satisfies whom?" A
possible answer is, "We
satisfy our customers
with our service." We do it by "being courteous to them." This gives us:
We satisfy our customers
better if we are courteous to them.
In the next example:
The implication of the
report was that the accident was caused by staff negligence.
The subject, The
implication of the report, is not a real doer. The real
doers are the writers of the report. That is, they, or the
authors. What the authors did was imply
the staff caused the accident because they were negligent.
So:
The authors of the report
implied the staff caused the accident because they were negligent.
I used the authors
instead of they
to avoid confusion with the they
in they were negligent.
We could have written:
The report implied the
staff cause the accident because they were negligent.
While the report
isn't a person who can imply things, it is generally understood to mean
the author of the report
implied it, or we
inferred it from the report. It is however quite clear.
Make Your Verbs
Express The Action
Writing
is clearer when the verb is clear and expresses the action (or state)
of the subject. These are sometimes called strong verbs. For instance:
Jack performed the action
of running up the hill.
The verb is performed.
It is vague. Jack might have:
performed a play
performed a lobotomy
performed magic trick
Also, performed tells us only vaguely what Jack did. Only when we get
to the word running
do we know what he actually did. What he did was run. But the verb is
concealed in the word, running.
If we make the verb express clearly the action, we write:
Jack ran up the hill.
When a verb is turned into a noun, its verb qualities are hidden,
making the new word more difficult to read and more vague.
Beware of the Verb
to be
The
verb to be is frequently found with errors in Plain English. There is
nothing wrong with the correct use of the verb, but it is wise to check
that it is the real verb in a sentence. See nominalizations and
passives.
Light Verbs
Light verbs include: do, give, have, make, perform and take. The can
often appear in expression of the form:
(Light Verb) (Determiner)
(Noun)
For instance:
I am going to have a sleep.
Clearly, this is wordy, and we can write:
I am going to sleep.
Using Light Verb
Without Light Verb
They performed a test of
it.
They tested it.
I had a sleep.
I slept.
She had an extraordinary
experience
She experienced something
extraordinary.
She took the opportunity
to escape
She escaped.
We shall take the risk of
travelling by sea
We risked travelling by
sea.
They did a thing that
surprised us
They surprised us.
He did an essay which was
brilliant.
He wrote a brilliant essay.
He made an attempt to
correct the problem.
He attempted to correct
the problem.
He gave a speech to the
group.
He spoke to the group.
It gave a hoot.
It hooted.
It gave us a shock.
It shocked us.
It gave a lurch.
It lurched.
Verbal
Nominalizations
By changing a word or group of words into a noun, you make a
nominalization. A
nominalization is a word or group of words which is changed into a
noun, sometimes by adding a suffix. Nominalizations are often derived
from verbs,
but they can be derived from other parts of speech, such as adjectives.
In nominalizations, weak verbs take the place of the real
verb,
clouding the meaning of the sentence.
Verbal nominalizations are nouns derived from verbs. You can nominalize
the verb imply
by turning it into the noun implication.
If you turn The
new report implied that he was corrupt, which angered
him into a nominalization, The implication
angered him,
you
lose the subject, the
new report, and the object, that he was
corrupt. When you do this, you hide the subject and the
object of the
verb, making your writing denser and vaguer. Your readers no longer
know what the
implication was, nor who made it. You can make your writing clearer by
limiting
the number of nominalizations of verbs.
Example
1
Consider:
The importation of
timber from endangered forests is a crime.
The word importation
is called a nominalization
because it is a noun which comes from a verb: the verb is import.
Sentences are often clearer when they are rewritten using an active
verb,
instead of the nominalization. They are even better when you give the
verb a concrete subject. For instance, ask who, or what, is importing this
wood, and the answer gives us a concrete person. For instance:
Companies that import
timber from endangered forests without a licence commit a crime.
Identify the nominalization. In this case, it is importation.
Find the verb. Here it is import.
Now
verbs have subjects, the doer of the verb's action. We can identify the
subject by asking, "Who or what is importing?" Sometimes, we need to
guess the answer. In the above example, we guess companies. That is
"companies import something".
Find the object by asking, "Who or what is being imported?"
In this case it is timber
that is being imported.
Re-write
the sentence using simple sentences. This can be done in note form, and
does not have to be correct English. Here we have
"Companies import
timber. The timber is from endangered forests. They do it without a
licence. They commit a crime."
We can give
thought to how the
sentences are related. The second one describes the timber in the first
sentence, "timber from endangered forests", and the third sentence
tells us about the condition of importing (if). And the last says what
the consequences are, that is, "they commit a crime".
Combine
these simple sentences into ones of reasonable length. For
instance,
"Companies who import
timber from endangered forests without a licence
commit a crime."
At point 5, where we have the simple sentences, we have the option of
putting them in a different order. We might chose:
It is a crime for
companies to import timber from endangered forests without a licence.
Which is even more readable, because it gets to the point straight
away.
Example
2
The formalization of the
process has alienated the members.
The nominalization is formalization.
The verbs is formalize.
We do not know who did the formalizing, but guess we (the company)
did. "We
formalized something".
"the process" is what is formalized. "We formalized the
process." We now have a real verb!
Using simple sentences, we have "We formalized the process.
Something has alienated the members."
The sentences are related by cause and effect, implying because.
We can combine the sentences to get:
Because we formalized the
process, we have alienated our members.
Example
3
Consider this sentence:
Avoidance
of writing excessively long sentences in the absence
of readership
considerations, excepting an infrequent occurrence, is recommended.
Avoidance, absence, considerations and occurrence are
nominalizations
from the verbs avoid,
absent
(done without), consider, and occur. The subject
of avoid
is
presumably, you
the writer. And what is avoided is excessively
long sentences. So, we can write "Avoidance of writing
excessively long sentences" as "you should avoid writing excessively
long sentences".
The
subject of the next verb, absent
or not done,
is "readership
considerations", which is also a nominalization based on the verb consider.
So we need to deal with this first.
The subject of consider
is, again, you the writer. And what you are considering is your reader.
So putting together the analysis of the last two nominalizations, we
get "without considering your readers". So far, we have,
"You should not write
excessively long sentences without considering your readers."
The next nominalization, the word occurrence,
means "something happening at a certain time", or "when something
happens". This something is "the writing of excessively long
sentences". If we ask, "Who is writing?", we find the subject is you, so we have:
"when you
write excessively long sentences". And because this is infrequent, we
have "excepting when you write excessively long sentences
infrequently."
Since we have already referred to long
sentences, we
can write, "excepting when you write such sentences
infrequently."
Putting all this together:
You
should avoid writing excessively long sentences without considering
your readers, excepting when you write such sentences infrequently.
We can tidy up this sentence. We can drop excessively,
because this is implied by "long sentences", and also drop the first
use of writing,
because this is implied. We can also write unless for
"excepting when". So we get:
You should
avoid long sentences without considering
your readers, unless you write such sentences infrequently.
While the sentence is clearer, because it no longer has
nominalizations and we have created real subjects (you), it is,
however,
extremely negative. See the further work we need to do in the example below.
Examples
Verbal
Nominalizations based on the verb to be
This is dependent
on status.
This depends on status.
An abstract idea is produced by the exclusion
of details.
By excluding details, you produce an abstract idea.
Success is the result
of hard work.
Success results from hard work.
There is significant opposition
among the voters.
The voters oppose it strongly.
There was a high incidence of recurrence.
It recurred frequently.
Verbal
Nominalizations based on weak verbs
We can drop the weak verb (shown in italics) in the following sentences
and rescue the true verb from its nominalization (shown in bold).
Scientists performed
a test of
the substance.
Scientists tested the substance.
We are concernedabout the incidence
of vandalism in the area.
We are concerned about vandalism in the area.
We are instigatinginquiries
into the matter.
We are inquiring
into the matter.
They made
a selection
of the important books.
They selected the important books.
Prefer the Active to the
Passive
In an easy
English sentence, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing
that performs the action. We call this type of sentence active,
or in the active voice. We say the opposite type of sentence
is
passive, or in the passive voice. In a passive sentence, the subject is
not
the doer. If the doer is mentioned at all, then it is often buried in
a
phrase beginning with by.
We
use active sentences rather than passives because passives are more
wordy and vague than actives. According to the Plain English rules, no
more than half our sentences
should be in the passive voice, and, in general writing, we should use
far fewer.
Consider the following table, which gives examples of active and
passive sentences.
Active
Passive
The dog bit the man.
The man was bitten
by the dog.
The scientists disputed the inferences.
The inferences were disputed
by the scientists.
He is stroking the dog.
The dog isbeing stroked
by him.
I will eat the crisps.
The crisps will
be
eaten by me.
He has been to France.
France is
where he has been.
The boss fired Henry.
Henry gotfired.
He had had a good time.
A good time hadbeen
had by him.
In
the table above, the subjects of the passive sentences are not the
doers. We make the active passive by turning the active sentence
around, so the by
clause
hides the doer (We often omit the doer in passive sentences). In the
above table, almost all the passive sentences contain forms of the verb
to be: was, were, being, be and been. One form of the passive uses got.
In all cases, the sentences contain words like bitten, disputed,
stroked, eaten, been, fired. These are called past participles.
Identifying
the Past Participle.
Most
English past participles end in -ed, but some small words such as eat,
be, have, etc, have different endings. If in doubt, identify the past
participle in the following manner:
Compose a sentence using They are plus the
verb part ending in -ing
(called the present participle).
For instance, for run, compose the sentence: They are running (a race).
Now write the corresponding sentence for They have plus the
verb part: They have run
(a race).
Run
is the past participle. An expression using a form of the verb to be
plus run
is passive. For instance: It was run in record time, is passive,
because it contains the verb to
be and a past participle.
Making the
Passive Active
We
want to make our shops better for everyone so our customers can have a
good experience, and profits will be made in more of our
outlets.
In profits will
be made in more of our outlets, we note the presence of
the verb to be
and the word made,
which is a past participle. The clause is therefore passive. We can
make
it active by finding the real doer in the sentence, we (the company)
and making it the subject of the verb: we will make profits in more of
our outlets.
The new sentence is:
We want to make our shops
better for everyone so our customers can have
a good experience, and we will make profits in more of our outlets.
The following is passive:
This type of sentence is called active,
or the sentence is said
to be in the active voice.
This type of sentence is
active, or in the active voice.
Prefer
the Positive to the Negative
This
guideline does not mean we should always use positive words. It does,
however, mean that we should think carefully before using negative
words.
Note:
Sometimes you have to guess what a writer means when they have used
some negative sentences.
The following sentence is hard to understand at first reading because
it has two negative ideas:
... said he would table an
amendment opposing
other controversial proposals in the Bill, including plans to scrap the
requirement for a legal father to be named by women seeking fertility
treatment. Telegraph
'He would oppose the scrapping'..., which means, he supports keeping
the requirement.
... said he would table an
amendment opposing other controversial
proposals in the Bill. However, he supports the requirement for a
legal father to be named by women seeking fertility treatment, and
opposes others who plan to scrap it.
Positive
Statements are Easier to Understand than Negative Ones
You can understand positive
statements more easily than negative ones because they
tell you what to do
or think, instead of telling you what not to do or think.
They leave what to do
a mystery, and makes the sentence vague. Negated expressions are words
with a negative prefix. For
instance, unclear,
unhappy
and inadvisable.
Or they are clauses with a negative word, such as no or not. Even words in
positive form can express a negative idea. For instance, hardly means not often,
so its meaning is negative. Positive expressions and ideas are much
easier to read because you need to make fewer steps to understand. To
read a negated expression, you must take two steps.
First you need to
understand the positive.
Then, mentally, you must negate it to produce the
negative.
Having to take an extra mental step, you are more likely to
misunderstand. Even if this causes you only a moments hesitation, the
flow of reading is broken.
Two Meanings of Not
The negative of some words means the
opposite. For instance:
This isn't correct. This is wrong.
But the negative of most words can mean anything except the stated
exception:
She was not happy.
She
could be anything except happy. She could be angry, sad, content, numb,
etc. Only the writer or the context can tell us what he really meant.
Negative
Words with Definite Meanings
Words like never
and nothing
appear to be negative, but they have a definite meaning and are not
vague. For instance:
We never go there.
This clearly means we go there zero
times.
The police said there was nothing there.
She said "I have nothing
to wear."
In the first sentence above, the police found nothing
of interest to them, although there were no doubt normal things there
(it wasn't a vacuum!) In the second sentence, she probably has many
things to wear, but nothing
she wants to wear. While nothing literally means zero things, its
meaning is often clear enough in other uses, as above.
Negative prefixes sometimes mean "the opposite of", when they have a
definite meaning. For instance, unhappy
means the opposite of happy, and the positive form is sad. The word
unhappy has a definite meaning. However, non-logical
does not clearly mean illogical. It might refer to another kind of
logic. The point is that negatives can be vague and confusing, which
makes them candidates for revision.
Negative
Expressions are Often Vague
Negative expressions are often vague. For instance:
No win, no fee.
This
advertisement by lawyers seems to mean if you lose the case, you won't
have to pay anything. Readers might also think that if they win the
case, they will get a big award. But sometimes the legal fees are more
than the award, and the clients ends up having to pay a huge legal
bill. No doubt this is mentioned somewhere in the small print. Perhaps
it should say "No win, no fee. Win, big bill."
How to
make Negatives into Positives
The following examples contain the word not, which can
sometimes be eliminated. For instance, we can eliminate not from not possible, by
writing the opposite of possible, impossible.
Expression using Not
Better
Expression using Not
Better
not possible
impossible
not finished
ongoing
not happy
sad
not the same
different
not stop
continue
not include
omit
not notice
overlook
not agree
refuse
Negative words, such as impossible, are often clearer than not plus a positive
word, such as not possible.
Avoid
Using Two (or more) Negatives in the Same Sentence.
Where there are two negatives in a sentence you should be wary. For
instance, if there is a word such as not and a word in
negative form, such as impossible,
in the same sentence, you should consider revising. In
doing so, you need to remember that in
English and mathematics, two negatives usually make a positive, and
this positive should be used. For example:
She was not an infrequent
visitor.
This is vague. We should write:
She never visited.
Or
She frequently visited.
Only
the writer knows what she intended. And any frequency of visiting,
except infrequent might logically fit the meaning - sometimes,
occasionally, almost always.
Occasionally, non-Standard English double negatives make a negative (as
they often do in some other languages):
I ain't never coming
again! (slang)
This means I will never
come again. And that is what we should write. In Standard
English, two negatives always
make a positive. Yet the meaning is perfectly clear. Also:
I wouldn't be surprised if
it didn't rain.
In spite of the double negative, it means the speaker thinks it is
going to rain. The expression should probably be considered idiomatic.
Negate
the Negative to Make a Positive.
In
the table below, we often do not know the meaning of the negative
because it is vague, and have to guess. As writers, we do, of course,
know what we mean and so we can sometimes eliminate not from the
sentence. We can sometimes do this when there is a word like not in the
sentence. The table below gives examples:
Negate the
Negative to make a Positive
Expression using Not
Better
Expression using Not
Better
not impossible
possible
not artless
skilled (artful)
not unhappy
happy
not undecided
decided
not unlikely
likely
not disagree
agree
not overlook
notice
not unknown
known
Example
1
It is not easy to
understand unclear writing.
The words not... unclear mean clear, so we have:
It is easy to understand
clear writing.
Example
2
In this example, the idea of not
is present, but not
is absent in the original.
The degree of
misunderstanding in your writing is increased by your use of non-simple
words.
We can write this as, introducing some nots:
The degree of not
understanding in your writing is increased by your use of not simple
words.
Removing the nots we get:
The degree of
understanding in your writing is increased by your use of simple
words.
And
by re-writing:
dropping "The degree" as meaningless,
changing
understanding into "readers understand" (use the real verb),
changing "is increased" to
better.
Readers understand your
writing better when you use simple words.
Example 3
This example comes from nominalizations.
The sentence has been cleaned up, but it is still hard to understand
because of the negative expressions.
You should
avoid long sentences without considering
your readers, unless you write such sentences infrequently.
If you avoid long sentences, then you write shorter
sentences.
without
considering your readers becomes consider your readers
unless you
write such sentences
infrequently, can be written in positive form as: you can write the occasional
long sentence.
Putting this together, we have:
Consider your readers and
write shorter sentences. However, you can write the occasional long
sentence.
Complex
Negative Expressions
The
following sentences baffle almost all readers. This kind of sentence is
more likely to occur in more professional writing. They are the kind of
sentences that readers of professional articles would object to because
the difficulty in reading the articles is due to the language used
rather than to the intrinsic difficulty of the subject.
Example
1
The following sentence seems very difficult, at least to me:
Lawyer: Is it not true that you omitted to avoid contact with
the prisoner? Answer Yes or No!
Perhaps
it is better to face the prison bars, the wrack, and the noose, rather
than to figure out such sentences! However, for the sake of our
readers, we try to make it clearer.
Is it not true is it false (not
true=false)
that you omitted to avoid contact with the prisoner that you contacted
the prisoner (omitted to avoid contact=contacted)
So, Is it true that you didn't contact the prisoner? Did you avoid
contacting the prisoner? (not contact=avoid)
This
is probably easy (or at least easier) to answer with a Yes or a No,
but, we can simplify the obviously negative word, avoid:
Did you avoid contacting
the prisoner?
Did you keep away from the prisoner? (avoid=keep away from,
approximately)
So
if you had nothing to do with the prisoner, you would answer Yes. This
is the opposite of what we might feel should be our response (and this
is what the lawyer intended: to confuse us to give the wrong answer).
Example
2
But for those cases which
have not been considered, we have no doubt that without this remedy
failed solutions do occur.
without this remedy failed solutions do occur with this remedy
solutions are successful
we have no doubt that
(just omit)
But for those cases which have not been considered In all the cases we
have considered (positive)
In all the cases we have considered, this remedy has proved successful.
(re-write)
Prefer Regular English Words
to Jargon
Jargon
is a special vocabulary used within a group to improve communication.
Plumbers, doctors, lawyers, and others, use special words which help
them in
their activities. The words might be unfamiliar to outsiders, or
familiar words with a different meaning. When a jargon word fills a gap
in the language, it becomes a part of the language.
When jargon is used
outside the group, they indicate:
The writer is ignorant, and does not know the words are
jargon,
The writer falsely believes she will impress others,
The writer wishes to deceive others by using familiar words
in an unfamiliar sense.
In
addition, some writers will use jargon to try to impress their
readers. This use of jargon is often vague and confusing.
Sample Jargon
Expressions
Expression
Meaning
Example
Comment
feedback
comments
Please
send feedback.
The
word feedback comes from electronics where positive feedback results in
overload, and negative feedback controls and stabilizes the system.
In the example, it means comments.
input
comments,
contribute
The
group is invited to give their input.
In the
example, the word input
means comments.
adequate
enough
We
have adequate supplies.
In these examples, a big jargon word is used
instead of a shorter familiar word.
entitlement
right
It is
your entitlement to work safely.
funded
paid
for
The
project is funded by the government.
geared
suited
to, aimed at
The
plan is geared to students.
In the
example, geared to
is unclear, it could have either of the two different meanings:
The plan is aimed at students.
The plan is suitable for students.
interface
interact,
work with, meet
We
need to interface with security.
interface is a
pompous way of saying work
with, or meet.
networking
building
relationships with groups of people, building contacts
I
found a job through networking.
networking, from
computing, is an impressive way of referring to contacts.
meltdown
melting of control rods in a nuclear reactor, with
serious consequences;
collapse, coming to an end;
extremely angry;
serious failure of mental abilities;
In urban areas, family life is in meltdown.
Because its main use is very dramatic, it is used to
dramatize many other situations and states. However it is usually
vague. To avoid vagueness, the writer needs to clarify its meaning in
the context.
operational
working
The
system is now operational.
Again,
a big jargon word for a simpler, clearer Anglo-Saxon one.
on the back of
because
of, after
Temperatures
are rising on the back of increased CO2 emissions.
The
expression is vague, so we do not know if the one causes the
other; both have a common cause; or they are just correlated.
significant
big,
probably caused by something other than chance.
The
new drug is significantly better than the previous one.
In
the examples, both these words with a familiar meaning are used in
their scientific sense, misleading the reader. If one drug is
significantly better, we would expect it to cure a lot more people, but
used in its scientific sense, significantly
better could mean only a small number might benefit. And,
in the smoking example, it seems obvious that smoking is addictive.
Drug companies have sometimes described drugs as non-addictive even
when such drugs are habit forming, or cause a compulsive need.
addictive
causes
physical withdrawal symptoms, habit forming, causes a compulsive need.
Smoking
is not addictive.
terrorism, money-laundering, etc.
Sensational
words, out of context, are used to persuade people to accept or to
justify behaviour by governments and organizations, behaviour which is
not motivated by effective policing, but an obsession with
control.
Prefer
English Words and Expressions to Foreign Ones
You
should avoid foreign words and expressions, except when you are sure
your reader will understand what they mean. Some expressions, such as sic and ad hoc are
extremely useful - acceptable alternatives are difficult to find.
The following alternatives are suggestions.
Foreign
Expression
Meaning
Example
Comment
ad hoc
for
this purpose or occasion only, and without considering wider
implications;
improvised
We
were able to find only an ad
hoc
solution to the problem.
ad hoc
seems to
fill a gap in English when it means something like special. For general
readers, an English expression should be used. For instance:
We managed
the problem, but we could not find a general solution.
We handled
each problem on its merits, but failed to find a general solution.
bona fide
genuine
We are
seeking bona fide
applicants.
Use genuine.
carte blanche
a free
hand
He's
been given carte blanche
in
this investigation.
Use a free hand, or full authority.
c (circa)
about
I went
there circa 1985
Use about.
eg (exempli
gratia)
for
example
He
likes to eat vegetables, eg
peas
and carrots.
A list
of examples beginning with
eg, does not
end in etc! [eg is written e.g. in the USA]
en bloc
all
together or at the same time
The
crowd surged en bloc
out the
cinema.
Use in a mass.
et al
and
others
After
speaking to Bill, et al, he
knew what he should do.
Use and others. With
people, etc is incorrect, because it means and other things.
etc
and so
on, and the rest
He
filled his backpack with food,
water, clothes, etc.
Do not
use etc after expressions like for
example or including,
because these expressions imply only a sample of the items are
mentioned, so adding etc is redundant. Also, do not say Mr Jones, etc,
came to see us, because etc refers to things, not people.
ie
that is
The
committee, ie the Ethics
Committee, is set to meet later today.
Used
when specifying one
thing or
giving one
example. Written i.e. in the USA.
inter alia
among
other things
We
want to find out, inter
alia,
why the flours had died.
Use among other things.
modus operandi
way of
working
His
modus operandi
was to work all
night and sleep all day.
His method was to work
all
night and sleep all day.
per
for
each
The UN
distributed two pounds of
flour per
refugee.
The UN
distributed two pounds of
flour to each
refugee.
per capita
per
person
Incomes
rose 20% per capita
during
the period.
Incomes
rose 20% per person
during
the period.
Incomes
rose 20% for the
average person during
the period.
per se
intrinsically,
as such
To err
is to be human per se.
To err
is what it means
to be human.
pp (per pro)
done
with the permission and
authority of another
pp
Roger Snout, Managing Director
Its
use is normal business
practice when signing a letter on behalf of another. However, the
receiver of the letter might think the writer can't be bothered to sign
their name and thinks the receiver is unimportant. Writers should sign
their own letters.
proxy
substitute
QED
proved
as required
As
everyone is mortal and Betty is
a person, she will die, QED.
Even
in mathematics, QED is considered to be arrogant and should be avoided.
In print, the black square, ■, is preferred. Often it can be
omitted.
sic
as
written by the original author (usually an error in spelling or grammar)
... he
will be confronted by computer [sic]
display that will advise him in plain english [sic] ...
sic is a very
useful word, but it might not be understood by the general reader.
... he will be confronted by computer [???] display that
will advise him in plain english [???]
...
Perhaps the writer should use sic,
and define it. There aren't any good alternatives.
sine die
indefinitely
People
receive this pension sine
die.
Use indefinitely.
vis a vis
face
to face; regarding; opposite
We
wish to compare the health of
the English vis a vis what they eat.
Use
the appropriate English expression. vis a vis is often
vague.
viz
namely,
used to give a specific
description or explanation of something previously mentioned in general
Use namely, or omit it.
These are mentioned for reference. They are widely used in reference
books.
When pilot Philip Turner is accidentally transported by an anomaly and marooned on an unknown planet, he discovers the planet is threatened by a group of ruthless aliens similarly marooned. With the help of a group of young women with superpowers, and a powerful being called a god, he reluctantly uses his advanced knowledge and technology to help the planet's inhabitants, but will he succeed when outnumbered by aliens, opposed by greedy and squabbling kings, and limited by his gentle nature and moral beliefs? Paperback and Kindle: