|
|
|
|
|
by David Lee
Richard Lederer is an author and lover of all aspects of language. His books, including Anguished English and Get Thee to a Punnery, reveal the English language in all its glory: puns, grammar, palindromes, children's books, language history, world literature, and crossword puzzles.
Technically Write: Do you use manuals or documentation at all?
Richard Lederer: I don't think so--maybe for my WaterPik or something like that.
TW: I was wondering if you've found that there's too much jargon in documentation.
RL: Often, yeah, there is too much jargon in a lot of writing.
What people have to learn is we're basically an Anglo-Saxon language. That's how we started. Our most frequently used words are Anglo-Saxon--that often means one syllable. In fact, the 50 most used words in English are all one syllable and they're all Anglo-Saxon. And the 100 most used words are all Anglo-Saxon although they're not all one syllable. So, when you're going to use the Latin and the Classical word, you want to make it gleam in its setting and keep them fairly few and far between.
TW: Do you find the use of English on websites to be substandard?
RL: I just don't go to enough sites in a day. I think e-mail is where you're getting a lot of writing. Certainly, a lot of it is lower-case, unpunctuated and ungrammatical (although it's fair to say I receive very few of those because people are scared of me), but I think we are in a golden age of writing letters.
We used to write a lot more. In the mid-19th century, there were ten daily mail deliveries, and we would be having this discussion by letter. I think now we're writing more letters. They're shorter, but we are writing. And, I think people are, a number of them, writing pretty well.
TW: How do you feel about Texans' use of the English language?
RL: Language is a pie, and the slices are dialects, and "Tixas" (because it's often that short "i" for an "e") is one of them and you know, depending on what part of Texas I'm "fixin'" to visit "y'all", and so on, and the answer is I love that. I hear America singing, and always enjoy the voice, or many voices of Texas.
TW: In terms of explaining things, what techniques help you write effectively?
RL: Oh, my techniques are that my audience is always there. I mean as a presence, a shadowy presence in my room where I'm writing. And humor--appropriate humor--is great.
TW: You've appeared at many STC events, including the 48th Annual in 2001.
RL: Y'all...are the very best audience I have, because you are brilliant and you are verbal and you really care about language...I love doing STC!
Richard will receive the Golden Gavel award from Toastmasters at their international convention this August in San Antonio. The highest award presented by this organization, it is given to an individual for exceptional accomplishments in communication and leadership.
David Lee is a graduate student working on his Ph.D. at UT Southwestern, and is pursuing a career in technical/medical writing. He is also the interim Webmaster for Fiesta Bilingual Toastmasters.