U is for Understandable
From the babble of a baby to the muted swirl of conversation connected with hearing loss, I long for being able to understand conversations. I don’t think I am alone. Even without some hearing loss we may struggle to fully understand someone whose first language does not match our own or a single soft voice amid the din of a crowd.
Good communication demands understandability whether orally or in written form. This involves the words we choose to use. Is our writing filled with idioms and slang that only someone familiar with those terms would understand? How do we make it more understandable. I realize that idioms vary with culture and location but I found out they also vary with age groups within the same area.
Years ago on a stormy winter night, I used the phrase “don’t hit the rhubarb.” I had heard this term often in my life as a means of telling people to be careful and not go into the ditch while driving. The young woman I spoke to had grown up close to Saskatoon on a farm and had never heard the term before. Likewise, when my one daughter moved to Ontario from Saskatchewan, no one knew what a bunnyhug was. Everyone there called it a hoodie.
But aside from watching how many idioms or regional expressions we might use, there is other ways our writing needs to be understandable for our audience. I have had the privilege of being published in The Upper Room magazine a few times. One thing I had to learn is that the devotional I wrote needed to be able to be translated into many languages and still retain the same message. I had to write about things that people would understand no matter what culture or country they came from. I wrote one devotional about hockey which they politely declined. It didn’t have universal appeal and understandability.
I also have had the opportunity to write and be accepted in Chicken Soup for the Soul books. These are also translated into other languages and although the topic needs to fit the book theme like my hockey story in the book Hooked on Hockey, it needs to use words and sentences not easily lost in translation.
As we write let’s strive to make our words easily understandable to our audiences including if our writing were to be translated into another language. What experience have you had with trying to understand a conversation or a piece of writing?
Thank you, dear Carol, for reminding us of how vital clear language is to our audience's understanding of our words.
ReplyDeleteI recently asked a lady to speak slower when she asked me some questions over the phone. Her lovely accent was a challenge for me to understand. She complied, and I was able to understand her words.
Bunnyhug and the rhubarb phrase are new to me. :)
Blessings.
Thanks, Carol. Wonderful post. I remember wishing I could communicate clearly with my Mom in the months before her passing. She had lost her voice but was still ‘talking.’ In hindsight, I should have brought in a friend of mine who reads lips. There were some words I could glean from her silent speech but not all. May we all communicate in ways others can understand. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteYou make some very good points here, Carol. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis is great, Carol. Appreciate your wise words. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSo many consideration in making sure our words are understandable. I was recently introduced to the word "familect" to denote words or phrases known and understood within a family but not the greater community.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting, Lorilee. I like "familect," and I know my family has many.
DeleteThank you, Carol. Being understood is crucial to a writer. Lots of good advice here. Idioms and slang can be off-putting to readers.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol, for these wise words. I just recently used the phrase, "stay out of the rhubarb," and it makes perfect sense to me. And how I miss the use of "bunnyhug" since moving from Saskatchewan. I still use it without thinking, and then get questioning glances.
ReplyDelete