Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The first sentence is not ambiguous, but “it” has been used in two senses. Use a more
specific term whenever doing so doesn't make the text too clumsy.
Premature pronouns also lead to difficulties.
When it was first developed, recursive compilation was impractically slow
and required too much memory.
When recursive compilation was first developed, it was impractically slow
and required too much memory.
A common source of confusion is between speed and time. Although not ambiguous,
the phrase “increasing speed” is easily read as
increasing time
, which has the opposite
meaning. There are similar problems with phrases such as “improving affordability”.
A clumsy sentence is preferable to an ambiguous one. But remember that stilted
sentences slow the reader, and it is difficult to entirely avoid ambiguity.
2
Sentence Structure
Sentences should have simple structure, which usually means that they will be no
more than a line or two. Don't say too much all at once.
3
2
The following my-dog-has-no-nose joke, due to Andy Clews, is not ambiguous.
First circumlocutionist: I have in my possession a male animal belonging to the family Canidae,
and it appears that he does not possess any extra-facial olfactory organs.
Second circumlocutionist: Could you therefore impart to me such knowledge as is necessary to
describe how that animal circumvents the problem of satisfying his olfactory senses?
First circumlocutionist: Unfortunately the non-ambiguity of your enquiry does not easily permit
me to provide a clever answer, but I am in fact thinking of referring the animal to an olfactologist.
However, the animal does have an unpleasant body odour, should you be interested.
3
The following quote is a single sentence from a version of the standard lease agreement of the
Real Estate Institute of Victoria, Australia. It is 477 words long, but the punctuation amounts to
only three pairs of parentheses, one comma, and one stop. This clause is an example of “the fine
print”—for example, the holder of a lease containing this clause has agreed not to take action if, in
circumstances such as failure to pay rent, assaulted by the property's owner.
If the Lessee shall commit a breach or fails to observe or perform any of the covenants contained
or implied in the Lease and on his part to be observed and performed or fails to pay the rent
reserved as provided herein (whether expressly demanded or not) or if the Lessee or other person
or persons in whom for the time being the term hereby created shall be vested, shall be found
guilty of any indictable offence or felony or shall commit any act of bankruptcy or become
bankrupt or make any assignment for the benefit of his her or their creditors or enter into an
agreement or make any arrangement with his her or their creditors for liquidation of his her or
their debts by composition or otherwise or being a company if proceedings shall be taken to wind
up the same either voluntarily or compulsorily under any Act or Acts relating to Companies
(except for the purposes of reconstruction or amalgamation) then and in any of the said cases
the Lessor notwithstanding the waiver by the Lessor of any previous breach or default by the
Lessee or the failure of the Lessor to have taken advantage of any previous breach or default at
any time thereafter (in addition to its other power) may forthwith re-enter either by himself or
