Getting Your Point Across
Good Grammar+Clarity=Effective Communication
Thomas Brown
Issue date: 12/10/09 Section: Opinion
The beloved English language. Foreigners struggle with it, native speakers argue over it; but as with all languages, nobody speaks it perfectly. In my opinion, language is crazy. We use phrases we don't understand, such as "of course," and we acquire structures that aren't even grammatically correct (e.g., "The reason…is because"). But words are very important. Infamous ones like "interesting" carry interesting connotations, and people misunderstand one another because they interpret one word two different ways. Beyond this basic problem of diction is the way we use language to be ambiguous and not offend, or sometimes to deceive. Because language is so important, we must listen to ourselves as we speak and examine the words that we write. It is good to be "self-aware," but we must also be "word-aware" so that others perceive us healthily and accurately. Allow me to assist you on your journey to improve your English and communication skills.
In On Writing Well, William Zinsser argues that "Clutter is the disease of American writing." We use too many words, many of them unnecessary for the purpose of our arguments. One way we do this, he says, is by using redundant adverbs and adjectives. The word "personal" is a perfect example. We say things like, "He is a personal friend of mine." But what's the point of using "personal" in such a sentence? After all, what other types of friends are there? Impersonal ones? Calling someone your friend implies that you are emotionally close. The excess of such redundancy is the phrase "As a person," as in, "As a person, how do you feel about this decision?" What else would I be, a nutcracker? We might respond to that question by saying "Personally, I don't agree with it." Other "clutterous" phrases are "due to the fact that" (because) and redundancies such as "a very tall skyscraper" or "smile happily."
"The reason…is (or was) because" is a structure used by nearly everyone but which is not usually found in academic writing because it is redundant. It is hard to catch sometimes because many words may come in between: "The reason we went to the grocery store was because we needed milk." "Because" means "for the reason that," and after substituting the definition for the word the example sentence reads: "The reason we went to the grocery store was for the reason that we needed milk." Or, "The reason is for the reason that." This is redundant. How do we solve it? "The reason we went to the grocery store was that we needed milk" ("The reason…is that"). Or, we could dodge the whole issue by saying, "We went to the grocery store because we needed milk."
In On Writing Well, William Zinsser argues that "Clutter is the disease of American writing." We use too many words, many of them unnecessary for the purpose of our arguments. One way we do this, he says, is by using redundant adverbs and adjectives. The word "personal" is a perfect example. We say things like, "He is a personal friend of mine." But what's the point of using "personal" in such a sentence? After all, what other types of friends are there? Impersonal ones? Calling someone your friend implies that you are emotionally close. The excess of such redundancy is the phrase "As a person," as in, "As a person, how do you feel about this decision?" What else would I be, a nutcracker? We might respond to that question by saying "Personally, I don't agree with it." Other "clutterous" phrases are "due to the fact that" (because) and redundancies such as "a very tall skyscraper" or "smile happily."
"The reason…is (or was) because" is a structure used by nearly everyone but which is not usually found in academic writing because it is redundant. It is hard to catch sometimes because many words may come in between: "The reason we went to the grocery store was because we needed milk." "Because" means "for the reason that," and after substituting the definition for the word the example sentence reads: "The reason we went to the grocery store was for the reason that we needed milk." Or, "The reason is for the reason that." This is redundant. How do we solve it? "The reason we went to the grocery store was that we needed milk" ("The reason…is that"). Or, we could dodge the whole issue by saying, "We went to the grocery store because we needed milk."
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