From the course: Writing with Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer

Unlock this course with a free trial

Join today to access over 25,300 courses taught by industry experts.

Fancy, flowery, and official language: Exercises

Fancy, flowery, and official language: Exercises

- Deconstruct this sentence in the same way that I showed you before. Pause the video and have a go. In the light of the extent, scale, range, and immeasurable complexity of the uncertainties that persist on the economic front, we conclude, having evaluated the country's mid-to-long-term prospects, that multifarious scenarios could yet unfold. Now, I get this. This next sentence also needs translation because it's definitely not plain speaking. It's one made up by George Orwell to make a point about the bureaucratic jargon that he was so against. Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account. It's very inaccessible, isn't it, and comprehension is very slow, if at all possible. Translate it into as few and familiar words as possible. If you really edit it down…

Contents