Fast Work

1 February 2018

Pen and Paper English is a wonderful language for writers. But we need to be careful. It's so easy to unconsciously say what we don't mean.

For instance, our daily newspaper had an article with the headline, "Norphlet field house to be remodeled." The article began with the sentence, "Smackover-Norphlet School District Superintendent Dave Wilcox announced that the Norphlet field house will be renovated during a meeting Monday night."

The sentence brings up questions like, Is it possible to renovate a field house during a meeting? How long is that meeting going to last? How fast will the renovators be working? Is there really so little to be done that the work can be completed in such a short time? What if we have a terrible storm on Monday?

I have the feeling that during a meeting Monday night the Superintendent said that the field house will be renovated.

English is a wonderful language and can easily be used to say what we mean. Why not use a little care and do that?