I get mad about people who are constantly stepping up to the plate, or urging others to do so. I believe it's a sporting term, from some version of rounders, but I don't see why I should be expected to have any idea what it means.
Aeons ago when I was in the civil service, we were brought up on Ernest Gowers' Plain Words, and I still fondly recall his dry examples of how not to do it:
Any archer will tell you that to exceed a target is as bad as falling short of it.
Do not use "anticipate" as a synonym for "expected". "John and Jane anticipated marriage" does not mean "John and Jane expected to get married."
Do not tell your correspondents that "the Minister is not in a position to accede to this request.". This will only tempt them to suggest he try standing on his head and see if that makes any difference.
And my own current favourite, after getting this morning's mail: Do not use paper stamped "date as postmark". This says to the recipient; "I am far too busy to know what the date is, or to write it down if I did. If you want to know it, you must retrieve the envelope from the waste paper basket and decipher the postmark,if you can. It is better you should do this than that I should be inconvenienced even for a moment.
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Aeons ago when I was in the civil service, we were brought up on Ernest Gowers' Plain Words, and I still fondly recall his dry examples of how not to do it:
Any archer will tell you that to exceed a target is as bad as falling short of it.
Do not use "anticipate" as a synonym for "expected". "John and Jane anticipated marriage" does not mean "John and Jane expected to get married."
Do not tell your correspondents that "the Minister is not in a position to accede to this request.". This will only tempt them to suggest he try standing on his head and see if that makes any difference.
And my own current favourite, after getting this morning's mail: Do not use paper stamped "date as postmark". This says to the recipient; "I am far too busy to know what the date is, or to write it down if I did. If you want to know it, you must retrieve the envelope from the waste paper basket and decipher the postmark,if you can. It is better you should do this than that I should be inconvenienced even for a moment.