With all of the 'noise' that communicators aim to cut through every day, we're always open to suggestions on new ways to make our writing more interesting. We're taught to cut out the fluff, leaving only the most important content in the message to save our readers time and and to ensure that our message is accessible to the largest possible audience. This 'no frills' approach to writing has been favored by most professional communicators as the easiest and most effective way to convey a message to the public.
Now, Rob Reinalda of Ragan.com is telling us otherwise. In his article 'For communicators, a world of options for spicing up text' he tells us that idioms are the next big thing in professional communication. He's not touting the use of any old cliche, but of new, exotic foriegn cliches, such as 'catching two pigeons with one fava bean'. That's an Italian saying conveying the same meaning as our 'kill two birds with one stone', but it's a bit more PETA friendly.
When reading this article I felt completely mixed up because the use of idioms of any nature goes completely against everything that I've been taught about professional communication. It's an interesting idea, but I can't imagine employing idioms to convey a message any time soon. I'd like to know what you think. Are idioms the next big thing?
Click here for the full article.
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