Non sequitur

[iainjclark]

What? Seriously, what?

A number of local councils in Britain have banned their staff from using Latin words, because they say they might confuse people. Several local authorities have ruled that phrases like "vice versa", "pro rata", and even "via" should not be used, in speech or in writing...Other local councils have banned "QED" and "ad hoc"...

Assuming this is real and not a Daily Mail scare story dressed up as journalism (which it manifestly sounds like, except that it's on the BBC website) this is crazy. Surely no-one seriously believes that "vice versa" is an obscure latin phrase. It's an English phrase; who cares about its etymology? Next someone will suggest banning "cul de sac" because it'll confuse non-French speakers. Or "margarine". Half our language is appropriated from elsewhere, and it seems meaningless to tag a few key phrases and mutter darkly "those are foreign".

Even leaving aside their derivation, are these phrases really obscure and elitist? I don't speak a word of latin, but I know perfectly well what all these examples mean, yet according to the Plain English Campaign "the ban might stop people confusing the Latin abbreviation e.g. with the word 'egg'." Because, you know, that one always confuses people. Why not just go the whole hog and ban words of more than two syllables?

I find this all very surreal because this kind of "PC gone mad" story is normally anathema to me. Usually the journalist has ridiculously mischaracterised a fairly sensible decision, and it's the press facing my ire not the bewildered subject of the story. In this case the councils are not imposing an outright ban, merely "discouragement", but on the face of it I still can't understand what they could be thinking.

Okay, I'm taking a few deep breaths and disengaging rant mode. On a tangentially related note, the godlike Stephen Fry talks lengthily, wisely and poetically about the beauty of language and the insanity of trying to freeze it in place on his new improved blog. An oasis of common sense.

Comments

[edda.livejournal.com]

Que sera sera.

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

C'est la vie.

[icundell.livejournal.com]

QED.

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

on the face of it I still can't understand what they could be thinking

I suspect they're thinking "instead of writing these documents in a way that only some of our readers can understand, why don't we try to write them in a way that all of our readers can understand." There's quibble-space on some of the terms excluded, but the basic principle seems sound to me.

And the Plain English spokesperson's e.g./egg confusion might be silly, but there's plenty of people who don't know the difference between 'e.g.' and 'i.e.'

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

try to write them in a way that all of our readers can understand

Hence my statement about banning words of more than two syllables. I seriously question whether the vast majority of readers have a problem with things like "vice versa" (so non-elitist it's the title of an idiotic Hollywood movie). If they do it's unlikely to be because the words are Latin -- they're in common English usage, after all -- but because they don't understand a wide range of other, non-banned English words. Hence the banning seems arbitrary and makes no real sense.

I'm actually in favour of plain english, and often bang on about this at work in relation to our letters and policies (as opposed to some members of our company who try to insert words like "apellant"). But there's a difference between keeping your language clear and singling out a range of common phrases which happen to be of Latin origin.

there's plenty of people who don't know the difference between 'e.g.' and 'i.e.'

But not, I put it to you, in any way that makes the meaning of a given sentence difficult to understand. :-P

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

But there's a difference between keeping your language clear and singling out a range of common phrases which happen to be of Latin origin.

Yes, but clearly the intention behind the councils' action is the former. But everyone seems to be attacking on the basis of some words that they feel should not have been excluded.

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

That's becuase they've done on a stupid basis ("Latin is complicated so Latin phrases should be banned") rather than the more reasonable "these words, some of which are Latin, are too complicated".