Plain English - Part 1a - Reasoning

Using a series of columns, I will be presenting a summary of information found in the book "The Penguin Guide to Plain English" (Harry Blamires, 2000). Copyright allows me to directly quote up to 10% of the content, but I will only paraphrase relevant parts and use my own examples. Henceforth, direct quotes will be preceeded with 'Blamires, pg # notes...'

Each column part will represent a section found in the book. It is my wish to give writers the tools they require, irrespective of whether they have access to their own reference books or not.

PART 1 - WORDS AND VOCABULARY

Words are important - they are the very fabric that stories, poems and articles are fashioned with. They are a means of communication, and through them a way to express yourself. Every unique situation calls for a unique combination of words, and the ability to string them together into a meaningful sentence is what sets us apart from the animal kindom. We always search for new ways to say things; to find the right word for the right situation. 

In speech communication, a speaker has not only words at his/her disposal - but also facial expressions, gestures and body language. In written communication we lack the last three and thus must 'colour' our written words to convey inflections, mood, and importantly; understanding.

I good example of this is two friends talking. One says 'you know?' and the other understands through their interpretations of non-verbal signals. In writing, you may have a character say 'you know', and without any other words to suggest to the reader how that should be interpreted, he/she is left at a loss.

That is why we use descriptive language. For example;

A simple statement of 'Julia sobbed' is fleshed out by using descriptive words; 'Having her boyfriend dump her in front of the class tore strips from Julia's heart, and she sobbed as her friends consoled her'

However, when trying to find the 'best fit' for words, some common mistakes are made through over-use of words deemed to have a 'blanket' meaning.

1a. Reasoning

Blamires, pg 14 notes that "Nowhere is it more necessary to select words carefully than in dealing with the matters of cause and effect"

cause and reason

Here a common mistake is to write;

"Benny hurried; he worried that he'd have to tell his wife his reason for running late."

When it should be; "Benny hurried; he was worried that he'd have to tell his wife what caused him to run late."

'caused' is used after the fact, and 'reason' before the fact.

A good place to use 'reason';

"The reason for Benny's haste was that he preferred to get home before the rain came."

mean, means, meant

Blamires, pg 15 notes;

"Popular usage now drags the verb into contexts where it merely draws attention to the paucity of the vocabulary in the writer's grasp." A common mis-use of this in a story context would be such;

"The lovely location of the wedding chapel meant there were perfect photographic opportunities"

As you can see it is not used as a manner of 'meaning' something, but a matter of cause and effect. A better way to phrase this would be;

"Because of the wedding chapel's lovely location (cause), there were perfect opportunities for photographs(effect)"

involve

Originally from the latin, it meant to "overwhelm or cover - like the clouds sweeping over the sky". Today it means anything from include to affect - and it is better to use specifics, rather than this over-used word.

For example; "Lucy's actions at school ended up involving her brother in unwanted attention."

Could be rewritten as; "Lucy's actions affected her brother through the unwanted attention given to him."

problem and solution confusement

Blamires, pg 18 notes, "There is no doubt of our fondness nowadays for talking, wherever possible, in terms of 'problems' and 'solutions'. The latter word is even more misused than the former. Sometimes, a 'solution' is posited seemingly without reference to a 'problem'."

This can be seen in some stories;

"William considered his options, and the solution was made clear to him. He would..."

A better was of writing this would be;

"William considered his options and came up with the best alternative. He would..."

An example of misused problem;

"The problem with Mr. Smith as a teacher was his lack of compassion."

Could be resolved as;

"His lack of compassion made Mr. Smith a difficult teacher to obey..."

This second statement actually gives the reader more information as to 'why' he lacked compassion, and not that he just 'lacked compassion'

convince - persuade or induce

Use of 'convince' is often ambiguous - it has neither a negative nor positive connotation. Historically, it came from the notion of "vanquishing...to convey the idea of overcoming someone so completely in argument that acknowledgement of the truth in question is made." (pg 19) 'Convince' should only be used when trying to have someone acknowledge a fact or theory, not when attempting to push them to an action (persuade), or lure them to a decision.(induce)

For example; "Kate persuaded her friend to cease hurting herself"

and; "Margaret put a bowl of seeds out with an aim to induce birds to visit her garden."

Next part to come soon...