My Article in JO Magazine in 2009 LETTER FROM JO OCTOBER 2009 This was published in JO Magazine: this month, a Bashar Arafat writes us a long note about the use of English language, which has left our office transfixed. Only after many readings are we beginning to see its true implications. In fact we prefer not to think as a letter from a reader at all; rather its a piece of avant-garde postmodernist text art, which daringly deconstructs the limits between a single English and multiple Englishes as the language moves from proprietary nationalist badge to Lingua Franca, and which explores the spaces between writing and typing; sense and nonsense; between colonialist elitism and self-imposed inability of the subaltern to speak. really, it may be the most brilliant thing weve ever published. JO jo.jo/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=699:simplicity&catid=77:culture&Itemid=176 CULTURE SIMPLICITY SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 William Shakespeare ... is not on JOs editorial board. (Wikipedia Commons) It could be considered kind of flattering to be compared to Shakespeare and John Donne ... but are we really that complicated? One reader responds to our abstruse obfuscations... From Bashar Arafat The Buzzword Line-up In research conducted by finance staffing firm Accountemps, 150 senior executives from the nations largest companies cited these 10 problem words and phrases (in no particular order): • Leverage: We should leverage our investment in IT infrastructure across multiple business units to drive profits. • Reach out: Jim decided to reach out to this underutilized demographic. • It is what it is: The server is down, and clients are irate. It is what it is. • Viral: Our training video has gone viral. • Game changer: The switch from LAN to WiFi was a game changer for our productivity. • Disconnect: There is a disconnect between our customers wants and their page views. • Value-add: Wheres the value-add in this increase in spending? • Circle back: I have to go, but I will circle back with the client later. • Interface: My job requires me to interface with all levels of the firm. • Cutting edge: Our cutting-edge technology gives us a competitive advantage. Unlike the Extremely Complex and sometimes tedious (English) Articles you find yourself entangled - and strangled- with on the pages of THE JORDANIAN JO MAGAZINE, and unless you are related to William Shakespeare, Wordsworth or WB Yates not to mention Charles Dickens and John Dunn there is no hope for you to understand the punch line or the objective of their articles if also you do not have the abashed OXFORD DICTIONARY (handy) to unravel the meaning of some of the ENGLISH WORDS AND GRAMMAR they opt on JO Pages. (The above list was copied from YAHOO front page for the purpose of clarification only. Notice how simple the English used. It’s not because it’s simple American English (It is to reach out to as many people out there as possible). Wouldnt that also make sense to a Magazine? To reach out to as many Jordanian readers as possible? Or is it only meant to be read by the elite few? If so then I rest my case. In this Months issue I had to reach out to my portable electronic English TO English Dictionary on one ARTICLE more than I had to when I read the Entire (The DA Vinci Code) by Dan Brown. I swear to GOD. I am a subscriber to (Digital Audio) Speciality Magazine such as: ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN WWW.EM.COM SOUND ON SOUND (BRITISH) MIX MAGAZINE Those Mags get deep into the issues in Computing, Conversion, Dithering, and Aliasing....etc. in SIMPLE, CLEAR and Concise English. Notwithstanding that these technologies rose from the advent of fast computers. I have been through 11 books for Colin Wilsons Almost all of Carlos Castanedas work Aldus Huxley Among many other Psychoanalysis, Parapsychology, Existentialism and Esotericism I also CARRY A BSC in Engineering FROM UCI. AN MBA FROM NYU AND AN ADVANCED LEVEL (A-LEVEL ENGLISH) WITH 25 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN US/AID (ENGLISH SPEAKING) PROJECTS, BUT TO NO AVAIL. There is no deliverance from JOs English. I believe the only AUTHORS WHO MAY (ONLY MAY) BEAT JO MAGAZINE IN’S COMPLEXITY AND BEATING AROUND THE BUSH will be: L.RON HUBBARD en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard CARL JUNG en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung 20th-century Mystic Esotericism G.I.GURDJIEF en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._I._Gurdjieff P. D. Ouspensky en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._D._Ouspensky Do not get me wrong. I am proud of JO Mag and OF the efforts our young journalists put forth, but is there going to be some simplicity in English at the end of the TUNNEL? Thanks Comments (10) Simplicity. 10 Tuesday, 06 October 2009 07:52 Marwan I have read all the comments on this posting, and I am surprised by the reaction. He simply has a very valid point. broadening ones horizons doesnt come from picking up a dictionary while reading a magazine, boiling it down to becoming familiar with some fancy phrasings, its more about the content, and the topics addressed. - which JO magazine does a pretty fair job in covering. that said, to make those more comprehensible a lighter feel to their words might be better for all concerned. Personally, I like stumbling over words. but again, I think JO should take this into consideration, and commence on further surveying, as one cant rule out the possibility of them being more accessible shall some revision was made to the wording of their articles. You guys are awesome! keep up the good work SIMPLICITY 9 Sunday, 27 September 2009 01:28 BASHAR ARAFAT Thank you (Farah) for your comment and for exposing to the readers the point (s) in my Letter. I think your comment explains it all. Literally. ITS ALL ABOUT Balancing Content with Form. All the Best to JO. (Bashar) What an optimally amusing letter 8 Saturday, 19 September 2009 02:34 Farah As much as I tolerate JO (and I dont tolerate many Jordanian magazines.. at all) the editors neednt be flattered by this Technicolor ode to JOs use of the English language!..... Shakespeare, Yates and the Dead Poets Society would shudder in their grave at the mere comparison! Mr. Arafat is just making a statement of how elitist and Westernized JO comes off, (ironic since its named JO... but then again only in the West would a Mohammad be abbreviated to MO.) And the problem is? 7 Friday, 18 September 2009 17:34 Musa I think one of the aims of any good publication is to broaden the horizons of its readers, and I believe that JO achieved that for Mr. Arafat by coercing him into using a dictionary. Cant say that for the Yahoo! article referenced by him, though. hotjobs.yahoo/career-articles-the_most_annoying_overused_words_in_the_workplace-972 Agree with Anon 6 Thursday, 17 September 2009 20:43 P I agree with Anon. Digging up all of these Wikipedia links and color-coding the paragraphs seem to be a much more tedious task than picking up a dictionary! I Have a English Decree 5 Thursday, 17 September 2009 19:22 Ralph Alpha Whats it all mean, Mr. Natural? Heavy words 4 Thursday, 17 September 2009 17:55 Anon With such an extensive educational background it only seems ironic that he complains so hard about having to pick up a dictionary! Simplicity in English 3 Thursday, 17 September 2009 14:41 Jack I just like to look at the pictures Zounds 2 Thursday, 17 September 2009 14:12 John I very much enjoyed this Kermodian Rant. Well is it that hard? 1 Thursday, 17 September 2009 11:44 taqmbi I disagree that the English used is very hard. I’m not a native English speaker nor did i go to a expensive private school ( not elite ). But i guess the words are IN place as far as my English goes.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 17:34:16 +0000
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