Читать книгу Collins Improve Your Writing Skills - Graham King - Страница 22

As computing has evolved from cult to mass culture we can no longer ignore the jargon that computers have generated. Even quite young children are now familiar with dozens of terms: floppy, prompt, menu, boot, megahertz, toolbar, drag and drop hold no terrors for them. However some of the worst offences against the English language pour in an unending stream from the computer world:

Driven and focused by seeing the world from the customer’s perspective, we continue to build an organisation where quality is embedded in every aspect of endeavour . . . our continued growth in the network computing industry mandates that we now identify and attract the most talented and creative sales and marketing professionals . . .

Mandates? This announcement sounds as if it were written by someone whose dictionary had a bad coffee stain on the relevant entry.

Is writing jargon and management-speak more difficult than writing plain English? Many examples suggest that it is, yet its devotees persist in working harder than they need to. Whoever wrote this job description in an advertisement for a BBC position deserved his Golden Bull award: The BBC seeks a Human Resources Assessment Technologist, Corporate Management Development. But jargonising also offers a lazy way out. Here’s a press release about a forthcoming conference, put out by the Association for Humanistic Psychology in Britain, which deserves full marks for sloth:

Conjoint Family Therapy, demonstration/participation workshop. This is a demonstration/participation workshop illustrating 20 to 30 ‘ways of being’ as therapist (i.e. ‘self as instrument’/strategies/techniques) presented from an experiential-Gestalt/communications skills/learning theory/whatever else philosophical viewpoint. Emphasis is on experiencing . . . family/therapist/participant/self, the several modalities, strategies, values, processes, procedures, goals, dangers, fears, avoidance, growth and excitement of conjoint interaction.

The author of that psychobabble should be made to stand in a corner and study an advertisement written in 100% plain English:

KITCHEN DESIGNER (Trainee considered) for thriving Chelsea studio. Drawing experience essential. Salary negotiable dependent on experience. If you are aged 20-30, educated to at least A-level standard, have a bright personality, thrive on hard work and are happy to work Saturdays, tell me about yourself by leaving a message on my Ansaphone, not forgetting to leave your name and phone no, or write a brief CV to . . . .

Bright. Un-pompous. Direct. And, above all, clear!