The English-Speaking World 2. [antikvár]

1. Please do not spit 1.Expectoration is forbidden. 2.Please do not spit. hese are two versions of a notice to the public that were *displayed at one time in certain English buses. Number 2 is a good example of clean English. Number 1 is *stilted, official English. It serves its purpose less efficiently than the simpler version. Somé people may not know the meaning ofthe word 'expectoration,' which is an unfamiliar Latinism. Although this notice contains only three words where the other has four, it is in fact longer; there are 24 letters instead of 15. In spite of this, it is less inclusive, omitting the 'please.' It has a gloomy, negatíve tone. The other version is more polite and altogether more humán. If you adopt the style of "please do not spit" and avoid the style of "expectoration is forbidden," you will go a long way towards writing clean English. You may think that this is so easy as to be not worth mentioning. It might never have *occurred to you to write in the style of the first notice. But language of that kind is still common enough in official letters and documents, and it is not always easy to escape from its influence without making a conscious effort. It is easy enough to write "Please do not spit," but it is only by hard and clear thinking that we can make all our statements and directions as clean and simple and pointed as this one. A Short Guide to English Style, by Alán Warner, Oxford University Press, London 1961