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(U) Write Right: Grab Bag
FROM:
of the Reporting Board (S12)
Run Date: 01/27/2006
(U) This month we accede to our readers' requests that we
comment on several "language incidents" and usage questions.
SERIES:
(U) Write Right '06
1. Avoid Neologisms (U)
(U) "Officials Humored by Question" -- so the question was being
indulgent toward the officials, was it? NOT.
(U) "Surrendered Chieftain Urges Insurgents to Accept Amnesty" -No, in fact, he was not surrendered; nobody handed him over to
anyone. He did the surrendering.
(U) We realize it is difficult not to succumb to the trend when our
leaders "pulse their audience" and use, for instance, "robust" as a
verb, or vow to "support organizational up-skilling," but we urge
our reporters to heed the words of our hero Marcus Fabius
Quintilian: "You should not aim to be understood, but to be
impossible to misunderstand." As the SIGINT Reporter's Style and
Usage Manual says:
"(U) While neologisms are part of normal language change and with
frequent use become part of the everyday language, clarity is the
most important principle in writing reports. Do not use recent or
uncommon neologisms, especially those that could cause
confusion, just as you would avoid using colloquial language."
2. Begging the Question (U)
(U) This in turn raises a question: at what point does a change in
usage harden, and does the change lead to confusion? This must
be judged on a case-by-case basis; flexibility is a good thing, but
this column's goal is "absolute clarity in one reading" and therefore
we recommend sticking to older, established usage during
transitional periods. Having said that, we venture to declare one
transitional period pretty much over with. "Begging the question" is
now generally used to mean "raising an inevitable question," but
the expression started out as a bad translation of the Latin term for
a particular type of logical fallacy ("petitio principii") in the study of
rhetoric. Insisting that the phrase remain limited to that esoteric
use would be as absurd as maintaining, as our A.P. English teacher
did in the '70s, that "epitome" could only be used to mean a precis
or digest.
3. Keep It Simple (U)
(U) How do YOU say "check the calendar"? Here's how an
Organization That Will Remain Nameless (OTWRN) put it:
(U//FOUO) Effective [date], [OTWRN] will maintain an on-line
Event Calendar for use by all elements of the [OTWRN] enterprise.
This tool will provide opportunities to leverage events and continue
to keep the workforce informed of what is happening within
1. Write Right : Grab
Bag
2. Write Right :
Frequently Asked
Question: Where Do
I Go for Help With
USSID SP0018
Issues?
3. Write Right : The
Style Manual vs.
USSID 300 -- er,
USSID CR1400
4. Write Right : The
Paperless Society
5. Write Right : Is That
Collateral, or Is It a
Comment?
6. Write Right : What's
a URS Center?
7. Write Right : Caveat
Scrutator (Or, 'But I
Saw It on the
Internet!')
8. Write Right : Seven
Things Not To Do in a
SIGINT Report
9. Write Right :
Breaking an Old
Reporter's Heart
10. Write Right : Where
Does It Say I Can't?
11. Write Right : Urban
Myths of SIGINT: 'I
Can Just Mark It
ORCON'
12. Write Right : Loaded
Words: Don't
Politicize Reports
[OTWRN].
(U) Checking the calendar = "provid[ing] opportunities to leverage
events and continu[ing] to keep the workforce informed of what is
happening within [OTWRN]." This has got to be some kind of
record. Several reporters who brought this to our attention noted
that they often practice "Tight Writing" in an idle moment by
translating such "communications" into Plain English. Or rather,
plain English. Which brings us to our last item:
4. Capitalism (U)
(U) There seems to be a move toward increased capitalization of
common nouns, to the point where some documents appear at first
glance to be written in German. Reporters should consult the Style
Manual entry on Capitalization for guidance.
(U) See earlier editions of "Write Right" in the Write Right '05
series.
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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