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(U) Write Right: Don't Change 'Happy' to 'Glad'
FROM:
of the Reporting Board (S12A)
Run Date: 10/07/2004
(U//FOUO) Editors get used to being regarded as hopelessly oldfashioned martinets who delight in reducing writing to the lowest
common denominator. Well, that's life. We who strive for absolute
clarity in one reading have to accept this characterization in the
interests of the customer. Having said that, however, we
acknowledge that some of us may be guilty of change for the sake
of change. To these disciples of H.G. Wells ("No passion on earth,
no love or hate, is stronger than the passion to change someone
else's draft"), we warn against the phenomenon known as
"changing happy to glad."
(U//FOUO) Make your changes substantive. They should
improve the clarity and the readability of the piece, not merely
reflect stylistic preferences (although you may sometimes find
yourself explaining patiently that "would of went" is not just a
matter of preference, it's incorrect -- but that's part of the job).
Think about whether your intended audience would know, for
instance, what a martinet is...and if there's any doubt, choose
another expression (e.g. nit-picker, rigid rule enforcer).
(S//SI) Be particularly wary of inserting colloquial expressions in
product reports. A British colleague recalls a strand of reporting
where NSA was wholly dependent on cryptanalytic and language
skills available only at GCHQ; the Brits used to share translated
decrypts with the NSA Target Office of Primary Interest, who
issued far more of them than the GCHQ TOPI, and in which,
naturally, U.S. spellings would replace the British ones.
(U//FOUO) He was amused when one text that he had sent over
the pond included the phrase "would be dismissed." The NSA
reporter had changed this to "would receive a pink slip." Our British
correspondent had to tell his NSA counterpart that to a UK or
Commonwealth reader this would imply only a pastel-colored lady's
undergarment. Think about this pitfall if your product report's
distro list includes Second Parties. (If, on the other hand, you're
writing a reassuring announcement from the Human Resources
Department about increasing the attrition rate, such an expression
might not be out of place. The point is to consider your particular
audience.)
(U//FOUO) Now for the other side of the story: writers, don't fall
in love with your own words. Learn to recognize good editing
by thinking of your target audience; does a change -- that, yes,
might suppress your brilliant flourishes -- make the piece clearer,
more succinct, more thorough? Keep in mind the words of Dr.
Samuel Johnson: "Read your own compositions, and when you
meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it
out."
(U//FOUO) For more advice on writing and reporting, see The
Reporting Page and The Reporting Forum .
SERIES:
(U) Write Right '04
1. Write Right : Spellcheck: The DoubleEdged Sword
2. Write Right : Don't
Change 'Happy' to
'Glad'
3. Write Right : Is That
Adjective or Adverb
Really Necessary?
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108