Effective use of language (was RE: Pet Peeves)

[Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

This is a great list, and not only for non-native
English speakers. In our busy lives, as we pore over
mountains of documentation while computers and
blackberries and phones beep in the background, we
need simple clarity instead of flowery language. I've
distilled your list a mite further.

- Use short sentences where possible.
- Use present tense where possible.
- Use the simplest possible word where possible,
keeping in mind that oversimplifying loses the nuance
of some words (table versus ottoman).
- Avoid colloquialisms and references to media,
literature, art, sports, food and society. Even within
your native land, not everyone has experienced all of
these things or cares, so you will lose them.
- Avoid news references.
- Avoid humor where confusing. (I cannot become
humorless, and some things are absurd, but if it
detracts from meaning it must go)
- Define terms early in your
presentation/documentation and use them consistently.
- Use parallel structures where they reinforce
meaning.
- Speak clearly and slowly, enunciating carefully.

Great list. I hope someone puts it in an FAQ.

--- Jonathan West <jwest -at- mvps -dot- org> wrote:

> - Use short sentences.
> - Use present tense wherever possible.
> - Avoid long words except for defined technical
> terms.
> - Avoid colloquialisms.
> - Avoid literary references.
> - Avoid sporting metaphors.
> - Avoid topical references to news items in British
> newspapers.
> - Avoid humor. (Chatting in the coffee break is a
> different matter to formal
> communication.)
> - Where terms have already been defined in the
> standards, use the exact
> wording of the defined term.
> - Speak clearly and slowly, so that people whose
> first language isn't
> English can follow.





 
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