语言与文风201037signals.com编辑精选
含糊其辞的词语与企业腔的荒诞
Weasel words and the absurdity of corporate speak
导读
这篇文章批评企业沟通中充斥的“weasel words”（推诿含糊的词语）和荒谬的套话，评论者从不同角度探讨了商务语言的真诚性、效率与清晰表达的价值。对写作者而言，它提醒我们警惕虚假亲切、空话套话，并认识到清晰具体的表达才是建立信任的基础。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
避免虚假的亲切：不要用假装亲密或家人朋友式的语气对待读者或客户，这比直白的商业语言更虚伪；写作应保持真诚，不刻意套近乎。
- 02
警惕陈词滥调和空话：如使命宣言、PowerPoint式点句，如果只是堆砌流行词汇而没有实质内容，就是浪费语言；写作应言之有物。
- 03
清晰的表达是信任的基础：如果不能用简洁清晰的语言说明你做什么、为什么擅长，读者会认为你不专业、不值得合作；写作要明确具体。
- 04
效率不等于简短：语言的功能是传达意义，有效的语言是能巧妙传达意义的语言；不要为了简短而牺牲清晰，也不要为了效率而变得空洞。
HN 评论精选
虚假的亲切比直白的商业语言更虚伪，写作应避免假装亲密。
我会假设——希望——公司代表与客户的关系不同于与母亲和朋友的关系。我不希望我合作的公司假装存在某种并不存在的家庭或兄弟情谊。虚假亲切的语言（“嘿，Ryan！”）在我看来比商业关系的语言（如“尊敬的客户”）更狡猾，后者至少诚实地表明其功利意图。
RyanMcGreal查看英文原文
> Would you ever talk to your mother or your friend that way? If not, why is it ok to talk to a customer that way? I would assume - hope! - that the relationships of company representatives to their customers is not the same as their relationships to their mothers and friends. I don't want companies with which I do business to pretend to some kind of familial or fraternal bond that doesn't really exist. The language of phony familiarity ("Hey, Ryan!") seems to me to be even more weaselly than the language of business relationships (i.e. "Dear Valued Customer"), which is at least honest in its mercenary intent.
批评文章中的一些观点误判问题，效率与意义并不矛盾，写作应追求有效传达意义而非盲目反对简短。
对于语言使用不当的 thoughtful 批评，我一直喜欢奥威尔的《政治与英语》。文章提到的大多数观点要么误判了问题，要么给出了糟糕的建议。比如，当几个词就能完成一个句子的工作时，我不会称之为“耗尽”。而“不要做X，因为世界上最差的公司都做X”这种论证可以套在任何X上。语言的功能是传达意义，那么高效的语言按定义就是巧妙传达意义的语言。假设他的抱怨是希望语言有意义，那么说效率是有毒的就自相矛盾。
willchang查看英文原文
For a thoughtful critique of language used badly, I've always liked Politics and the English Language (http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/index.cgi/work/essays/language.html) Most of the points mentioned in the article misidentify the problem or give bad advice. > Powerpoint is the ultimate in the depletion of English. It just doesn’t approve of sentences. It makes them into dot points. When a few words do the work of a sentence, I would not call that 'depletion'. > The invention of a mission statement is too late. The worst companies in the world are using mission statements. Let's not do X. The worst companies in the world do X. X could be just about anything. > The language I think is poisoned, generally. And it’s poisoned in the name of efficiency for some strange reason. It’s as if the whole culture has been corporatised in one way or another. Since the function of language is to convey meaning, language that is efficient is language that deftly conveys meaning, by definition. Assuming that all his complaints amount to wishing for language to be meaningful, it is a contradiction to say that efficiency is poisonous.
含糊其辞暴露不专业，清晰表达才能赢得信任。
其实，weasel words 可以是一种礼物。公司在无意中告诉我他们是什么样的人。如果他们懒得清楚说明他们做什么以及为什么擅长，他们就是在告诉我我不想和他们合作。
billybob查看英文原文
Really, weasel words can be kind of a gift. The company is unintentionally telling me what kind of people they are. If they can't be bothered to clearly state what they do and why they're great at it, they're telling me that I don't want to work with them.
同类还值得读
像说话一样写作
Write like you talk
这篇短文主张写作应像说话一样自然、清晰，避免装腔作势的书面腔。
语言与文风2015 · 647 分 · 272 评4 条写作要点编辑精选法律语言难懂源于写作不佳，而非专业概念
Poor writing, not specialized concepts, drives difficulty with legal language
这是一项认知科学研究：法律文本难懂，主要不是因为充斥专业术语，而是因为写作者把句子写得又长又绕、修饰语层层嵌套、回指距离过远。
语言与文风2022 · 559 分 · 322 评5 条写作要点编辑精选写得简单
Write Simply
保罗·格拉汉姆在这篇短文里主张：好文章应该写得简单——用日常词汇、短句、直白的结构，不为显得聪明而堆砌复杂表达。
语言与文风2021 · 484 分 · 330 评4 条写作要点编辑精选Tortured phrases：科学写作中出现的一种可疑文风
Tortured phrases: A dubious writing style emerging in science
《自然》新闻报道了一种在科学论文中蔓延的怪现象：原本标准的术语被同义替换软件改写成了古怪说法，比如把 "cloud computing" 写成 "haze figuring"。
语言与文风2021 · 329 分 · 256 评4 条写作要点编辑精选乔治·奥威尔 1940 年对《我的奋斗》的书评
George Orwell's review of Mein Kampf (1940)
这是奥威尔1940年对《我的奋斗》的书评。
语言与文风2014 · 305 分 · 240 评4 条写作要点编辑精选