Passive Aggressive
I dislike sentences that are written in the passive voice - especially those with "should" or "must" in them.
There's a simple reason for this. If I write a sentence in the active voice, it's very obvious who's acting: the sentence structure pretty much forces me to say who's talking. But in the passive, I can finesse this issue. It's very easy for me to create apparently complete sentences that don't specify the actor at all, giving an illusion of respectability to some potentially quite extreme views.
Let's examine a few pairs of sentences: first in the passive, then in the active.
"Teenagers shouldn't be allowed out at night."
"The parents of teenagers shouldn't allow them to go out at night."
"Public sector debt needs to be reduced by £180bn over the next ten years."
"The UK government needs to reduce public sector debt by £180bn over the next ten years."
"He should be hanged for what he did."
"Both Houses should pass a change to the law, the jury should convict him unanimously and the judge should sentence him to be hanged for what he did."
"The world should be greener."
"Each of us should act to reduce our impact on the world."
Consider these pairs, if you will. Which would you pick for precision of communication? Which would you pick if you were trying to pinpoint an issue? And which would you pick if you were on a podium during an election campaign trying to sway an audience's opinion?
Don't even get me started on sentences that use "the fog of They" - "they oughtta do something about it".
There's a simple reason for this. If I write a sentence in the active voice, it's very obvious who's acting: the sentence structure pretty much forces me to say who's talking. But in the passive, I can finesse this issue. It's very easy for me to create apparently complete sentences that don't specify the actor at all, giving an illusion of respectability to some potentially quite extreme views.
Let's examine a few pairs of sentences: first in the passive, then in the active.
"Teenagers shouldn't be allowed out at night."
"The parents of teenagers shouldn't allow them to go out at night."
"Public sector debt needs to be reduced by £180bn over the next ten years."
"The UK government needs to reduce public sector debt by £180bn over the next ten years."
"He should be hanged for what he did."
"Both Houses should pass a change to the law, the jury should convict him unanimously and the judge should sentence him to be hanged for what he did."
"The world should be greener."
"Each of us should act to reduce our impact on the world."
Consider these pairs, if you will. Which would you pick for precision of communication? Which would you pick if you were trying to pinpoint an issue? And which would you pick if you were on a podium during an election campaign trying to sway an audience's opinion?
Don't even get me started on sentences that use "the fog of They" - "they oughtta do something about it".