Sunday, October 19, 2014

Clarity and Conciseness

I really learned a lot from our readings and homework this week.  Through it all, there was one small point that really stood out to me, avoiding the word "that."  I use that word constantly even though it isn't necessary and sounds better when you leave it out.   The book gives a few examples where the word "that" is used but not needed.

This is a book that will change your life.

This book will change your life.

Another example.

Police recovered the laptop that was stolen.

Police recovered the stolen laptop.

In both examples the second sentence is more concise and to the point.  The word "that" is often useless and unnecessary and the sentence sounds much better when you leave it out.

I am sure I have used "that" a million times in this class and 10 million more times outside of this class.  I always second guess it in my head when I write but I pretty much always end up using the word "that" when I really don't need to.  I wish I could remember all the rules we have gone over because for the first time I really have a strong desire to actively write and speak well.  I feel that if I can just remember one or two little rules each week, like this one, I will eventually get to where I want to be.

Editing Mistake of the Week

My work has an endless supply of editing mistakes.  Most of my supervisors have been with the company for 25+ years.  They came up at a time when college degrees weren't required for advancement and when computer skills didn't exist.  They all know the dairy business inside and out but their communication skills are lacking to say the least.  As I have stated in previous post I can't take pictures because I can't have my phone with me because I work in a food processing plant.  This week our main boss over the dock put out a memo telling us how we need to load each trailer for our biggest customer.  In the memo he said "All pallets must be raped before being loaded onto a trailer."  He meant to say that they all need to be wrapped. We all had a good laugh and said that we might have some serious HR issues if all the pallets have to be raped before we can send them.

1 comment:

  1. With all the reading this week, I also picked up on the concept of not using "that" all the time. Then as we were rewriting those sentences, I caught myself many times having to stop and take "that" out. It is amazing how different we look at sentences the more we learn from this class!

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