[lbo-talk] Time to Get Religion

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Wed Dec 6 07:58:49 PST 2006


Jerry Monaco wrote:
>
>
> Without knowing why you think "clear speech" is a fetish I am not
> quite sure how to answer this. The nuns used to tell me to
> "annunciate, annunciate" and because I was a stutterer in elementary
> school they used to give me famous speeches to read out loud. Surely,
> when you speak you speak to be heard by those you are speaking to.
> Being heard is only one step toward being understood.

I'm not sure what Doug has in mind, but here is a possible explanation. Consider the following two sentences:

1. Bring me 10 cans of peas.

2. Bring me 10 prints that I will like.

Both are clear in vocabulary and syntax -- and that is what is wrong with the second sentence. It is completely obscure simply because it is clear. Yet many/most of those who fetishize clear language would probably squeak about obscurity if the second sentence were rewritten to be clear. It would take several hundred words at a minimum and probably some complicated syntax.

Carrol



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