La lingua dei moduli (The language of forms)
QCER C1458 parole
The letter from my bank arrived on a Tuesday and I have now read it four times. It is nine lines long and it concerns, as far as I can establish, a fee of two euros. At no point does it say that anyone has taken two euros from me. The money is described as having been applied, which is the sort of thing that happens to paint. Nobody wrote that sentence in the way a person writes a sentence; it was assembled, like a shed, out of parts that were already lying around.
The note from the hospital belongs to the same family. It informs me that my appointment has been rescheduled and that I am advised to attend. Advised. Somewhere inside that word there is a small, well-oiled trapdoor: if I fail to turn up, it will emerge that I was advised, and that everything which follows is a matter between me and my own judgement. The word costs nothing to write and it moves the whole weight of the appointment onto the person least able to carry it.
The usual explanation for all this is that officials cannot write. I have come to doubt it. People who cannot write produce a different kind of mess: shorter, angrier, far easier to answer. What arrives from the bank is the work of someone who writes perfectly well and has been asked, discreetly, to write something else. Administrative language is not a failure. It is a considerable technical achievement in a field where success is measured by other criteria, and it does exactly what it was built to do.
What it does is move responsibility away from whoever is holding the pen. A clause stating that we may vary these terms is a small marvel of engineering: five words, one of which is the word may, and nobody in the building will ever be asked to justify a decision taken under it. None of this has gone unnoticed. The Plain English Campaign was founded in Britain in 1979 and announced itself by shredding official forms in a London square, and it still hands out prizes to the worst offenders. Nearly half a century later: the letter from my bank.
I would not say the campaign failed. It won every argument it ever entered, and that is precisely the difficulty. Nobody defends this way of writing. The people who produce it will agree with you, sincerely, that documents ought to be clearer, and then send you a paragraph explaining that in the event of non-receipt you should contact the relevant department at your earliest convenience. Clarity has no opponents. It simply has no budget, no deadline and nobody whose job depends on it. The two euros, incidentally, were mine.
Parole che forse non conosci
- feecommissione, spese (bancarie)
- to apply (a charge)applicare, addebitare (un importo)
- as far as I can establishper quanto ho potuto appurare
- shedcapanno, baracca
- to rescheduleriprogrammare, spostare di data
- to be advised tosi consiglia di fare qualcosa, essere invitato a farlo
- trapdoorbotola
- to turn uppresentarsi, farsi vivo
- to vary (terms)modificare (le condizioni)
- to shreddistruggere (documenti), tritare
- offendertrasgressore, colpevole
- non-receiptmancato ricevimento
- at your earliest conveniencenon appena le sarà possibile
Domande
Si risponde con il testo davanti. Non è memoria: è capire.
What is the effect of describing the money as 'having been applied'?
It leaves whoever moved the money out of the sentence — La frase precedente prepara il terreno: in nessun punto dice che qualcuno abbia preso il denaro. «Applied» è ciò che succede alla vernice, non ciò che fa una persona: l'agente sparisce.
In the note's own words: my appointment has been rescheduled and I am ___ to attend.
advised — La parola è «advised», e il testo la ripete da sola, in una frase a parte, perché si noti: consigliare non è convocare. Se poi non ci vai, chi ha deciso sei tu.
The text argues that administrative language is mostly the work of people who cannot write well.
False — Falso: quella è «la solita spiegazione», e il testo la mette in dubbio. Chi non sa scrivere produce un pasticcio più breve e a cui è più facile rispondere. Questo lo scrive qualcuno che scrive bene.
According to the text, what does a clause such as 'we may vary these terms' achieve?
It allows a decision that nobody will ever have to justify — Il testo la chiama «una piccola meraviglia di ingegneria» e indica la parola chiave: «may». Nessuno nell'edificio dovrà giustificare una decisione presa in base a quella clausola.
How did the Plain English Campaign make itself known when it was founded in Britain in 1979?
By destroying official forms in public, in a London square — È l'unico dato esterno del saggio: è nata nel 1979 in Gran Bretagna e si è presentata distruggendo moduli ufficiali in una piazza di Londra. E continua a premiare i peggiori.
Why is it a problem that 'clarity has no opponents'?
Because everyone agrees with it and nobody is paid to deliver it — Qui sta l'ironia finale: nessuno difende quel modo di scrivere eppure è dappertutto. La chiarezza vince ogni discussione perché nessuno discute; quello che non ha è un budget, una scadenza o qualcuno il cui lavoro dipenda da essa.