This is yet, another complicated area of noise in the language people may not be aware of, or simply ignore in attempt to communicate ideas or opinion unambiguously, especially using available media platforms. Most writers, down to the journalists or reporters are careless about abridging or summarising their reports, which, of course, is of necessity given the rapid changes that take place in the society today. Who has enough time to spare going through voluminous essay, so to speak, or long winding and pompous statements, or listen to the radio, watch television news longer period than he can take when issues of hunger and family needs stares him or her in the face?
These are some of the issues the smart journalists and reporters have to consider when going about the daily routine of the job of informing, educating and entertaining the reading and listening publics on the latest event or occurrence as they break on the local and international scenes. Reporting the activities of people who influence or shape the society to the latest breakthrough in science and technology requires short, straight to the point notes, devoid of flowery and long winding sentences.
This is the technique the modern writer adopts to get at the heart of the readers, using simple, short, and where possible, one, two to three syllable words to send the message. Some may argue, how is that possible when they have so much to talk about, especially today when the majority appear to be aware of their environment by embracing formal education with more universities and tertiary institutions being set up at regular intervals. The latest information is that Nigeria today has over 200 universities with more to come, considering the number of applications, from government, corporate bodies and individuals jostling for it, before the National Universities Commission, NUC.
The more reason we should write less, taking a cue from the ad man or advert copy writer whose messages are beautifully couched or delivered in simple penetrating words to excite or compel the buyer to take action; go for the products or services being advertised. Sample the advertising language of the big companies or conglomerates. It’s simply catchy and arresting! This is the way to go in modern journalism, or for radio reporting, in particular. Keep your idea short and simple. Avoid unnecessary adjectives and excessive use of vocabularies to tell a simple story.
Mistakes are made when we allow the passion of verbosity to consume us with the danger of repeating ourselves and sounding pompous. From time to time I will be sampling or publishing some of the most maligned expressions that are made complex, otherwise, a simple, concise and straightforward sentences that are adjectives free, particularly when writing or speaking for the ear- radio reporting falls under this category.
Take home this lesson: Redundant phrases such as “absolute perfection, 35 acres of land, complete monopoly, sufficient consideration, submitted his resignation, sustained injuries, take action on the issue,” and more that would come, are common vocabularies that adorn the pages of newspapers, commentaries on radio and discussion programmes on television. The list of needless statements is long, but we shall explore them one after the other.
Now, we can rewrite them to sound better and save time. For example, the expression “absolute perfection,” to the English purist, the word, “absolute” is not necessary. They maintain that “perfection” is absolute. Or “complete monopoly.” The adjective, “complete,” is a waste of space and time consuming, the masters of the craft, insist.
The phrase, “35 acres of land” is yet, another poor English people should desist from. Simply speak or write, “35 acres.” The elongated expression, “35 acres of land,” is tautology. Just as we have it the following vocabularies; “sufficient consideration,” “adequate enough,” “submitted his resignation,” “sustained injuries.” Do your research, though I will try to provide the answers in our next lessons.
