George Bush gets pipped
to "Foot in Mouth" award
President Bush comes
second in "Foot in Mouth" award
Former England soccer manager Steve
McClaren fought off tough competition from US President George W. Bush to win a
dreaded "Foot in Mouth" award on Tuesday from the Plain English
campaign.
He was hailed for a supreme example
of in talking about star player Wayne Rooney: "He is inexperienced but he's
experienced in terms of what he's been through."
George W. Bush came second for "All
I can tell you is that when the governor calls, I answer his phone."
Plain English Campaign spokesman Ben
Beer said: "We thought it was a bit obvious to honor Bush as he comes up with
them every day."
Every year, the pressure group hands
out a raft of awards mocking incomprehensible jargon in a battle to clear the
linguistic fog that so often envelops the English language.
Past winners include model Naomi
Campbell, actor Richard Gere and former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
There is never a shortage of
entrants sent in by people baffled by bureaucratic language and befuddled
legalese.
"We get 40 to 50 examples a week,
mostly from British documents. The media, including advertising and marketing,
is riddled with insider jargon," Beer said.
Offering the best way to obliterate
meaningless verbosity, Beer said: "Thinking before you write is the main thing
and then re-reading what you have written."
That message clearly fell on deaf
ears at Coleraine railway station in Northern Ireland.
The station sign read: "Every autumn
a combination of leaves on the line, atmospheric conditions and prevailing damp
conditions lead to a low adhesion between the rail head and the wheel which
causes services to be delayed or even cancelled."
London's Gatwick Airport got 10 out
of 10 for brevity but came bottom of the class for clarity for one of its signs:
"Passenger shoe repatriation area only."
The campaign was founded in 1979 by
Chrissie Maher who only learned to read and write at the age of 14.
(Agencies)
年度“不知所雲”大獎揭曉
布什屈居亞軍
本周二，“簡明英語運動組織”年度“不知所雲”大獎揭曉，前英格蘭國家足球隊主教練史蒂夫·麥克拉倫力挫美國總統布什，贏得這一“殊榮”。
麥克拉倫對球星韋恩·魯尼的評價是最為經典的例子，令人“讚嘆”。他說：“魯尼經驗不足，不過他對自己做過的事情還是很有經驗的。”
布什總統“屈居”亞軍。他的“獲獎名言”是：“我想告訴你們，如果州長打來電話，我一定會接。”（譯者注：布什訪問發生火災的南加州，在回答有關應急救援的問題時說了這句話。）
“簡明英語運動組織”的發言人本?比爾說：“我們原以為布什總統奪冠的可能性比較大，因為他說錯話可是家常便飯。”
為了消滅英語中經常出現的“雲山霧罩”的語言，該“施壓組織”每年都頒發一係列獎項，嘲諷各種讓人摸不著頭腦的晦澀言論。
歷屆“不知所雲獎”得主包括名模納歐米·坎貝爾、影星理查德?基爾和美國前國防部長唐納德·拉姆斯菲爾德。
該組織經常收到人們“舉報”的一些令人費解的“官話”和法律用語。
比爾說：“我們每周能收集到四、五十個這樣的例子，其中大多數來自英國的官方文件。此外，廣告、營銷等傳媒中也充斥著大量的行業術語。”
針對這個問題，比爾提出，最好的解決辦法就是“提筆前慎重思考，寫完後再三通讀”。
而北愛爾蘭的科勒雷恩火車站顯然沒有做到這一點。
該火車站的一個告示牌上寫道：“每到秋天，鐵道上的落葉、大氣狀況和潮濕的天氣使火車頭和車輪間的粘附力減小，導致火車延誤或取消。”
而倫敦加特維克機場是做到了百分百的“簡要，但是在“清楚”方面卻是最差的了。該機場的一個告示牌是這樣寫的：“乘客鞋遣送專用區”。
“簡明英語運動”組織成立于1979年，其創始人克裏西·馬赫在他14歲時才開始識字。
