Who would have thought that Donald Rumsfeld, Alicia Silverstone and Germaine Greer have something in common? According to new research commissioned by T-Mobile, all three have confused people by the way theyíve spoken.
A list of good and bad uses of the English language by public figures has been compiled by Professor David Crystal, one of the worldís foremost language experts, to encourage T-Mobile store staff to explain things simply when talking to customers.
One of the worst offenders is Donald Rumsfeld with his now notoriousëknown knownsí speech:
ìThe message is that there are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know. So when we do the best we can and we pull all this information together, and we then say well that's basically what we see as the situation, that is really only the known knowns and the known unknowns. And each year, we discover a few more of those unknown unknowns.î
Professor David Crystal commented: ìWeíre not intending to criticise the sentiment of the people that weíve quoted. In fact, the famous Rumsfeld quote is a complex thought which is actually expressed by the words; but he makes the listener do all the work. What is the difference between clear and unclear English usage? Short words and short sentences help, because they make language easy to remember.
In contrast, fifty years on, Winston Churchillís famous quote ìI like short wordsî is still seen as the epitome of excellent ëplain-speakingí, along with other straight talking quotes from John Paul Getty, Arthur C Clarke and even Bill Gates.
Posters with Professor Crystalís examples of good and bad language are being distributed to T-Mobile stores across the country to display in staff rooms to help remind employees to get rid of jargon and say it like it is.
Phil Chapman, T-Mobile, said: ìWe know customers donít understand all the jargon that comes with technology so weíve been working to stamp it out since the beginning of the year. Our retail staff have undergone intensive training on how to speak to customers in plain English. These posters just remind them of the simple rules of ëplain speakingí and the things to avoid each time they talk to our customers.î
T-Mobile unveils the best and worst uses of the English language
Donald Rumsfeldís ìKnown knownsî bewilder people as short sentences speak volumes
