Yes, Minister
This is from the previous post:
"Or at least, I can say for sure that even though there are still uncertainties, we have done our best, and so we have every right to hope that the eventual outcome is as good as we want it to be."
Just look at it. Such a long sentence, so many lines, so many commas and conjunctions and so much redundancy! I'd blame it all on me, but it's much easier to blame it on something else if possible. So, I'll officially throw my choice of language and turn of phrase on Messrs. Jay and Lynn, the wonderful creators of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
This is the third time in the last nine months that I'm reading these books, but, like Wodehouse, they never get stale. On the contrary, each time I read them, something new comes up. Words are used as ammunition, in defence, so smoothly and ingeniously that ... well, their obvious and immediate impact on me is to obfuscate my flow of thoughts and, consequently, form of expression!
A few days ago we were going over a document Fi had written, I was vetting it and decided to change a few things. By the time I was done it looked more like a government statement than anything else. Not realizing that, I sent it back to Fi to be looked over. He got back to me, calling it some unprintable names. My writing is usually good enough not to be called by unprintable names, so I was livid. As if to add insult to obvious injury, he went over each sentence, telling me exactly in what way it deserved which unprintable name. Somewhere in what was turning out to be a rather unruly argument ("frank exchange of views", as per YM/YPM) I happened to mention "going back to my Yes, Prime Minister instead of listening to [his] nonsense".
For a minute there was silence on the line. Then, inexplicably (and very surprizingly), a giggle. And then, "Oh, now I get why your writing was so circular!!" I gratefully accepted the explanation. And very conveniently omitted to tell him that Piggie has, for the last ten years at least, described my writing as being "full of moreover and whereas".
[P.S. only for Fi: No written comments allowed on this post.]
"Or at least, I can say for sure that even though there are still uncertainties, we have done our best, and so we have every right to hope that the eventual outcome is as good as we want it to be."
Just look at it. Such a long sentence, so many lines, so many commas and conjunctions and so much redundancy! I'd blame it all on me, but it's much easier to blame it on something else if possible. So, I'll officially throw my choice of language and turn of phrase on Messrs. Jay and Lynn, the wonderful creators of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
This is the third time in the last nine months that I'm reading these books, but, like Wodehouse, they never get stale. On the contrary, each time I read them, something new comes up. Words are used as ammunition, in defence, so smoothly and ingeniously that ... well, their obvious and immediate impact on me is to obfuscate my flow of thoughts and, consequently, form of expression!
A few days ago we were going over a document Fi had written, I was vetting it and decided to change a few things. By the time I was done it looked more like a government statement than anything else. Not realizing that, I sent it back to Fi to be looked over. He got back to me, calling it some unprintable names. My writing is usually good enough not to be called by unprintable names, so I was livid. As if to add insult to obvious injury, he went over each sentence, telling me exactly in what way it deserved which unprintable name. Somewhere in what was turning out to be a rather unruly argument ("frank exchange of views", as per YM/YPM) I happened to mention "going back to my Yes, Prime Minister instead of listening to [his] nonsense".
For a minute there was silence on the line. Then, inexplicably (and very surprizingly), a giggle. And then, "Oh, now I get why your writing was so circular!!" I gratefully accepted the explanation. And very conveniently omitted to tell him that Piggie has, for the last ten years at least, described my writing as being "full of moreover and whereas".
[P.S. only for Fi: No written comments allowed on this post.]
posted by Summer Showers at
10:53 AM
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