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Over-complicating plain English/Pseuds Corner

Posted by Lewis on August 02, 2004

in replying to a question about a complex sentence below, I amused myself with defining 'a spade'. the serious point is in that pseudo-academics and management-gurus clutter up their writing with tortured English. In law, there is much to be said for properly defining constructs and that goes for many other academic areas which work within the human sphere rather than the physical world. However, Plain English often helps rather than hinders those areas and good communicators need to be able to both take on board the complexities of the academic, yet be able to explain in terms that a lay-person can understand. Not everybody can do that and there is room for different sorts of people - I have a friend who can hardly make himself understood, yet has a wonderfully clever academic mind.

Just out of curiosity and having a laugh at some unnamed writers - would people set out their favourite examples of 'much ado about nothing' where literary mountains have been made from mole-hill concepts.

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