AP

Clear Writing and Clear Thinking

While killing time recently at a secondhand bookstore, I picked out from one of the shelves ‘The Complete Plain Words’ by Sir Ernest Gowers. Having had no reason to choose that book over any other, the choice was nonetheless worthwhile just for a sentence printed on the front cover: ‘if the baby does not thrive on raw milk, boil it.’

As it turns out, the book is not about parenting but about writing. At the invitation of the Treasury in England in the mid-1900s, Gowers had written it to assist with efforts to improve the use of English in official writings. The book includes examples of real sentences to illustrate the problem, such as ‘prices are basis prices per ton for the representative-basis-pricing specification and size and quantity.’ Gowers pointed out that this was written for the general public. The sentence is hard to understand not because we readers lack specialist knowledge, but because it is unclear.

No doubt all of us have received and written emails which are just as waffling, but today we add poor grammar to our confusing sentences. A friend recently wrote to me expressing thankfulness for his ‘wives support of his ministry work.’ It is possible to feel pleased and concerned at the same time! ‘The Complete Plain Words’ includes reminders about grammar, but that is not its main point. Rather, it is about the choice of words and the order in which they are arranged. There is a chapter about avoiding superfluous words, and chapters about choosing words which are familiar and precise. There is a chapter about arranging words, and chapters about troubles with conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, verbs, and negatives. Much is summarised in the precepts ‘be simple, be short, be human’ and ‘think for others rather than yourself.’

‘Do not delay returning this form because you do not know your National Insurance number’

becomes

‘Send this form back at once even if you do not know your National Insurance number’;

 and

‘So that your proper entitlement to supplementary benefit can be decided you must produce evidence about your circumstances. You should therefore bring any of the following items you have for yourself, your wife or any dependents

becomes

We need to see some papers to sort out your claim. They are listed in the box on your right.

It is easy if you try.

As with many issues, war can reveal the urgency of a problem. In 1940, Winston Churchill wrote in a memo to his war cabinet, ‘Let us have an end of such phrases as these: “it is of importance to bear in mind the following considerations…” or “consideration should be given to the possibility of carrying into effect…” Most of these wooly phrases are mere padding, which can be left out altogether, or replaced by a single word.’

Lindley Murray wrote that ‘the first requisite of a perfect sentence is clearness. Whatever leaves the mind in any sort of suspense as to the meaning, ought to be avoided. Obscurity arises from two causes; either from a wrong choice of words, or a wrong arrangement of them.’

Gowers states that in good writing ‘every word is exactly right; no other word would do as well; each is pulling its weight; none could be dispensed with.’ As an example, he remembers a notice which used to be displayed in every post office in England: ‘Postmasters are neither bound to give change nor authorised to demand it.’ Shakespeare himself would be proud of that beauty. Just try to improve it.

It doesn’t take much to be awakened to the pleasure in reading good writing. Sentences which might otherwise seem run of the mill become a delight when the reader develops an eye for impactful verbs, meaningful selection of voice, the arrangement of clauses, and even the etymology of words. With typical energy, Borris Johnson pointed out the power of the English in Churchill’s speeches in phrases such as ‘it’s not only the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning’ and ‘I’m ready to meet my maker, whether or not my maker is ready to be meeting me.’ Johnson noticed that Churchill would often ‘swoop from the flowery Latinate words to the very short, punchy Anglo-Saxon words.’

Indeed, good writing is there for us to enjoy even as we read the Bible from day to day. Compare the different forms of Matthew 7:1-2 in the CSB, NIV, and RSV.

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. (CSB)

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (NIV)

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. (RSV)

The point here is not that one is obviously better than the others, but that just as the Hebrew and Greek authors wrote with divinely inspired skill, so English translations can convey the beauty of the Bible’s sentences.

How much does good writing really matter? Perhaps the artistically inclined will more readily agree that careful writing is important, whereas the more business-like will say that making a fuss about sentences, spelling, grammar, and clarity is nitpicking and unnecessary. But clear writing aids clear thinking, and we ought always to try to think clearly.

George Orwell’s illustration in his essay ‘Politics and the English Language’ is itself an example of good language even as it makes a point about good language: ‘A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible.’

You never know what you will find killing time in a secondhand bookstore.

– Jacques Nel