Book Reviews and Notices : Plain Words: A Guide to the Use of English. BY SIR ERNEST GOWERS. (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1948. Pp. 94. 2s.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591294900200311
• Date: 01 September 1949
• Published date: 01 September 1949
• Subject Matter: Articles

427

BOOK

REVIEWS

AND

NOTICES

Plain

Words:

A

Guide

to

the

Use

of

English.

BY

SIR

ERNEST

GOWERS.

(London:

His

Majesty’s

Stationery

Office.

1948.

Pp.

94.

2s.)

I

never

pick

up

The

Political

Quarterly

without

being

instantly

at-

tracted

to

something

of

interest,

nor

lay

it

down

without

wishing

I

had

time

to

read

further.

(Perhaps

that

is

a

proof

of

the

quality

of

a

journal.)

The

item

that

caught

my

attention

when

I

opened

the

issue

for

January-

March

1949

was

the

review

of

a

little

book

called

Plain

Words.

I

obtained

a

copy

from

the

British

Information

Services

(30

Rockefeller

Plaza,

New

York

20,

New

York.

Price

70

cents),

which

performs

the

useful

function

of

making

British

public

documents

readily

available

in

this

country.

I

found

it

admirable,

and

thought

that

others

might

be

pleased

to

have

it

drawn

to

their

notice.

&dquo;This

book

was

written

at

the

invitation

of

the

Treasury.&dquo;

So

begins

the

Preface.

The

author

is

a

civil

servant

of

wide

experience.

&dquo;The

offi-

cial,&dquo;

he

observes,

&dquo;must

use

the

written

word

for

many

different

purposes

-for

Parliamentary

Bills,

Statutory

Orders

and

other

legal

documents,

for

despatches

to

His

Majesty’s

representatives

abroad,

for

reports

of

com-

missions

and

committees,

for

circulars

to

Local

Authorities

and

similar

bodies,

for

departmental

instructions,

for

minute

writing,

for

correspond-

ence

with

other

departments

and

with

the

public,

and

for

explaining

the

law

to

the

millions

for

whom

it

now

creates

complicated

personal

rights

and

obligations

and

whose

daily

lives

it

orders

in

countless

ways.

What

ever

the

purpose,

the

object

of

the

writer

will

be

the

same-to

make

the

reader

take

his

meaning

readily

and

precisely.&dquo;

Who

will

say

that

the

teachers

of

future

public

administrators

have

placed

adequate

stress

upon

accuracy

and

felicity

in

drafting-or

that

their

own

writings

maintain

a

high

standard

in

that

respect?

&dquo;The

first

requisite

for

any

writer

is

to

know

just

what

meaning

he

wants

to

convey.&dquo;

Do

not

write

until

you

are

quite

certain

what

you

want

to

say.

Surely

this

is

the

very

beginning

of

wisdom

in

draftsman-

ship.

Sir

Ernest

continues:

&dquo;The

following

was

written

about

politicians,

but

it is

true

of

all

of

us:

A

scrupulous

writer

in

every

sentence

that

he

writes

will

ask

himself ...

What

am

I

trying

to

say?

What

words

will

express

it?

...

And

he

probably

asks

himself ...

Could

I

put

it

more

shortly?

But

you

are

not

obliged

to

go

to

all

this

trouble.

You

can

shirk

it

by

simply

throwing

open

your

mind

and

letting

the

ready-made

phrases

come

crowding

in.

They

will

construct

your

sentences

for

you-even

think

your

thoughts

for

you

to

a

certain

extent-and

at

need

they

will

perform

the

important

service

of

partially

concealing

your

meaning

even

from

yourself.&dquo;

[George

Orwell

in

Horizon,

April,

1947.]