Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site gloria.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!rochester!rocksanne!sunybcs!gloria!colonel From: colonel@gloria.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) Newsgroups: net.singles Subject: Re: clear writing Message-ID: <907@gloria.UUCP> Date: Sun, 7-Jul-85 19:55:06 EDT Article-I.D.: gloria.907 Posted: Sun Jul 7 19:55:06 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 11-Jul-85 00:46:01 EDT Distribution: net Organization: Jack of Clubs Precision Instruments Co. Lines: 51 References: <503@unc.UUCP><541@unc.UUCP> The original flame: > Only inferior people are prone to sloppy, obscure writing. > They do this to hide the triviality of their ideas. > > >Frank, when you spout forth with these arrogant judgemental statements, > >I feel irritated, and I want to discount everything you have to say. Quite right. Calling people "inferior" does no good. > Note that in the posting you quote, I admitted that sloppy, obscure > writing is not necessarily due to incompetence. It can also result > when the writer has no consideration or sympathy for the reader. > > > Moira Mallison: > >Clear communication is really just a matter of education. > > Yes, it requires a high school education (something that many > college graduates apparently lack). Besides that, all it requires > is the INTENTION to write clearly. Frank is going too far here. Most high-school English teachers are not competent to teach clear writing, and many of them encourage obscurity. > > Moira Mallison: > >Unfortunately, too few people appreciate the value of communication skills, > >or how much *practice* it takes to develop them. > ... > How difficult is it to change sentences from passive to active voice > in cases where passive voice is not required? > How much practice is required to write "use" instead of "utilize"? > Or "now" instead of "at this point in time"? > Especially considering that lists of these and other common > verbal atrocities are readily available. These principles presume some knowledge of grammar. They are not normally taught below the college level, and are unknown even in some colleges. In my experience, the offense against clarity most prevalent in serious writing is nominalization. Lists of clumsy or wordy phrases won't cure that habit. Try telling a fifty-year old college professor to use more verbs! -- Col. G. L. Sicherman UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel CS: colonel@buffalo-cs BI: csdsicher@sunyabva