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    The Penguin Guide To Plain English: Papers

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    Ilias
    The document provides guidance on using plain English in writing. It discusses several examples where ambiguous language or metaphors could be misunderstood: 1) Defining "flexibility" as a category ranging from family ponies to competition horses is imprecise and could be better stated as "cover for whatever you need it for, from family ponies to competition horses". 2) Using the metaphor of a "raft of proposals" to describe government proposals is problematic, as one unveils rather than launches a raft. 3) Words with double meanings like "deliver" and "precede" risk unintentionally invoking the wrong meaning if context is not clear. 4) Even short words like

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    The Penguin Guide To Plain English: Papers

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    Ilias
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    The document provides guidance on using plain English in writing. It discusses several examples where ambiguous language or metaphors could be misunderstood: 1) Defining "flexibility" as a category ranging from family ponies to competition horses is imprecise and could be better stated as "cover for whatever you need it for, from family ponies to competition horses". 2) Using the metaphor of a "raft of proposals" to describe government proposals is problematic, as one unveils rather than launches a raft. 3) Words with double meanings like "deliver" and "precede" risk unintentionally invoking the wrong meaning if context is not clear. 4) Even short words like

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    The document provides guidance on using plain English in writing. It discusses several examples where ambiguous language or metaphors could be misunderstood: 1) Defining "flexibility" as a category ranging from family ponies to competition horses is imprecise and could be better stated as "cover for whatever you need it for, from family ponies to competition horses". 2) Using the metaphor of a "raft of proposals" to describe government proposals is problematic, as one unveils rather than launches a raft. 3) Words with double meanings like "deliver" and "precede" risk unintentionally invoking the wrong meaning if context is not clear. 4) Even short words like

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    8 views1 page

    The Penguin Guide To Plain English: Papers

    Uploaded by

    Ilias
    The document provides guidance on using plain English in writing. It discusses several examples where ambiguous language or metaphors could be misunderstood: 1) Defining "flexibility" as a category ranging from family ponies to competition horses is imprecise and could be better stated as "cover for whatever you need it for, from family ponies to competition horses". 2) Using the metaphor of a "raft of proposals" to describe government proposals is problematic, as one unveils rather than launches a raft. 3) Words with double meanings like "deliver" and "precede" risk unintentionally invoking the wrong meaning if context is not clear. 4) Even short words like

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    The Penguin Guide to Plain English

    It is less than exact to convey that the need for satisfactory insurance for
    a variety o f activities or possessions can be sum m ed up as a need for
    flexibility. But then seemingly to define flexibility as a category o f
    beings ranging from family ponies to com petition horses makes matters
    worse. W hat should be offered is: cover for whatever you need it for,
    from family ponies to com petition horses.
    W here a m etaphor is involved it is all too easy to attach the w rong
    w ord to it. An image w hich has lately become popular is that of a raft.
    A raft is a platform w hich floats and can usefully carry a load o f items
    carefully arranged together. Hence we hear that the governm ent is
    producing a raft o f proposals on this matter or that. That is a useful
    expression, if handled properly.
    The government has unveiled a raft of proposals.
    Here it is mishandled. The w riter has opted for the w rong initial verb,
    and the imagery breaks down. It m ight be appropriate to launch a raft,
    but the picture o f someone unveiling a raft will not do.
    There are words w hich can be used in different senses in different
    contexts. Exploiting double meanings can be a source of hum our or, in
    poetry, o f profundity. One m ight flippantly say The baby was delivered
    at eight o clock in the m orning, at the same time as the newspaper in
    fact. There is always a risk for the w riter in using any w ord w hich has
    the sort o f double usages that are exploited there in the verb deliver.
    For it is possible to call up the w rong meaning unintentionally.
    A glass of wine and an introductory lecture will precede a special guided
    tour of the exhibition by gallery staff.
    The verb precede means to take place before in time. It also means
    to go before in movement. The glass o f w ine and the lecture precede
    the guided tour in time. But the concept o f people walking through
    the gallery on a guided tour is apt to bring the other meaning of pre
    cede to mind, so that one pictures a procession headed by a glass o f
    wine.
    Even the shortest w ords can be used to exploit this kind of ambiguity.
    The w ord in is made to do double duty in Dickenss celebrated account
    of the agitated Miss Bolo in Pickwick Papers, w ho w ent straight hom e, in a
    flood of tears and a Sedan chair.
    The w riter has to take care not to allow an unintended am biguity to
    intrude through lack o f watchfulness.

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