GOOD CLEAR ENGLISH
I certainly do not want to start a ‘Pedant’s Revolt’ about split infinitives and confused pronouns etc, but the use of clear, simple English is not a trivial matter. We are in the state we are because political utterances are concerned not with reality but with appearance, and this routinely involves the misuse of language in order to deceive or obscure. The same applies where there is an inability to think clearly about problems or ideas. That politicians actually take a pride in their linguistic skill in avoiding answering questions says much about why our public life is so degraded. In what other job would such behaviour be regarded as anything other than dishonest and despicable?
Have a browse through the suggestions below. Please feel free to add/delete/ignore as you wish. We all use some of these, and similar, from time to time, so prevalent are they in modern political, management and broadcasting usage, but most are ugly, many are redundant and some are just plain wrong. Ironically, those intended to make the user seem learned usually give an air of pomposity and ignorance, while those intended to make the user seem ‘trendy’ or ‘cool’ do precisely the opposite. Nevertheless, such usage, in obscuring as opposed to clarifying, is a pernicious, almost Orwellian, trend and should be opposed.
Generally it is always a good idea to be ruthless in editing your own work and you might find the brief advice given to me many years ago worthwhile: if possible, use a short word rather than a long one and two words rather than three.
All that said, if you have a good idea – let’s hear it – badly written or not.
Suggestion | Comment | |
9/11, 7/7 | see ‘Terrorism’ | An insult to the murdered |
24/7 | permanently / continually | lazy and very ugly |
At the end of the day | in / at the end | verbose and ugly |
At this/that moment in time | now / then | verbose and very ugly |
Ball park estimate | estimate | an estimate is approximate |
Beg the question | prompt the question | invariably wrong usage – see petitio principii |
Billion | milliard / thousand million | see last part of Economy |
Blueprint | plan / scheme | blueprints haven’t been used in decades! |
Blue sky thinking | thinking / originality | fatuous jargon |
Bottom line | result / consequence | fatuous jargon – ugly |
Carbon footprint | carbon emissions | inaccurate and patronizing metaphor. |
Chair | Chairman / Chairwoman | ask, ‘are you wheel, arm, or rocking?’ |
Chill out zone | relaxation / rest area | just appalling |
Clear blue water between | difference between | fatuous jargon |
Closure | peace / acceptance | inappropriate euphemism – wrong |
Decimate | devastate / destroy | invariably wrong usage – to decimate is to reduce by a tenth |
Defining moment | important / crucial event | pompous and meaningless |
Down the road | later | fatuous jargon |
Downside | disadvantage | ludicrous – how can a side be up or down? |
Downsize | reduce | euphemism for sacking – ugly |
Evidence-led decision | decision | moronic redundancy |
Faux | false / mock | French, and pretentious |
Flag up | indicate / warn about | fatuous jargon |
Free up | free (see ‘up’) | ugly and redundant |
Game plan | plan | fatuous jargon |
Get round the table & negotiate | negotiate | ask ‘Is this table, tide, time or operating?’ |
Go the extra mile | try harder | fatuous jargon |
Guidelines | guidance | Ugly |
Head up | lead / warn about (see ‘up’) | fatuous jargon |
Heads up (noun) | meeting | Ditto |
Heads up (verb) | pay attention | Ditto |
In real terms | in reality | Ugly |
Joined up thinking | thinking | pointless metaphor – very ugly |
Kick off | start | Fine, for a football match, embarrassing would-be ‘cool’ for a Radio 3 concert |
Level playing field | equal terms / conditions | ludicrous metaphor – how many sloping playing fields have you seen? |
Move the goalposts | change the terms / conditions | preposterous metaphor |
No win situation | too many disadvantages | fatuous jargon |
Offer on the table | offer | see ‘Get round the table . . .’ |
On a score of | with / having a score of | wrong use of ‘on’ – quizmaster/sports reporter illiteracy |
Ongoing | continuing | Ugly |
On message, on song | compliant | very ugly |
Out of the loop | no longer involved | fatuous jargon |
Package of proposals / measures | proposals / measures | redundancy |
Point up | indicate | fatuous jargon |
Pushing the envelope | exceeding normal limits | wrong usage and appallingly ugly |
Put in place | start | fatuous jargon |
Put to bed | finish / complete | grotesque metaphor |
Raze to the ground | raze | wrong – to raze is to level to the ground |
Reality checking | checking | pointless – and ugly |
Refute | reject / deny | usually wrong – to refute is to disprove |
Revisit | re-examine | pointless and ugly |
Ring fenced | reserved / allocated for | ludicrous metaphor |
Risk return | result | fatuous jargon |
Road map | plan / scheme | ludicrous and inappropriate metaphor |
Rolled out | distributed / introduced | ludicrous metaphor |
Safe haven | haven | redundancy – a haven is a safe place |
See the big picture | take a broader / overall view | ludicrous metaphor |
Share this with you | tell you | ugly |
Silo mentality | narrow thinking | ludicrous metaphor |
Smoking gun | convincing evidence | ludicrous metaphor |
Spin doctor | liar (professional) | disgusting euphemism |
Steep part of the learning curve | very difficult | appalling metaphor |
Stressed out | stressed / tense | redundancy – ugly |
Take on board | understand / accept | fatuous jargon |
Temperaturewise | temperatures (will be etc) | weatherman slovenliness – ugly and unnecessary |
Terrorism | see Terrorism | |
Think outside the box | think originally / creatively | appalling metaphor |
Top stories | main stories | newsreader claptrap – would-be ‘cool’ – embarrassing |
Tranche | part / portion | French, and pretentious |
Transparency | Openness | pointless metaphor (also usually means ‘opacity’) |
Up (as train up, park up, free up etc) | train, park, free etc | redundant and ugly |
Upside | advantage | see Downside |
Weatherwise | weather (will be, etc) | ugly and unnecessary |
When all is said and done | in / at the end | verbose and ugly |
Window of opportunity | opportunity | fatuous jargon |
Win win situation | no disadvantages | fatuous jargon – very ugly |
Working in partnership with | working with | redundancy – ugly |
Zero tolerance policy towards | we will not tolerate . . . | fatuous jargon |