Module 3 Part 1

(approx. 15 sheets)

Developing Your Style
Style
Sentences and Paragraphs
Verbs
Use Linking Words and Sign Posts
Choose the Right Word
Capital Letters
Numbers
Things to Avoid
Slang and Obscenities

Developing Your Style

We are not in the business of teaching you English grammar here. If you feel your grammar is weak then there are several good books which we recommended in Module 2. If you have doubts about your spelling and punctuation then look at the Handbook on the subject.

However, there are a few points about which we would like to remind you before we go any further. If you already feel confident of your writing ability, then skim through them quickly. On the other hand, if you are not so confident then study these points carefully in conjunction with one of the books we recommend.

The first point is that you must try to write grammatically. You may think that such advice is old fashioned and certainly some of the more pedantic rules can be ignored. Nowadays we do see sentences beginning with 'and'; we do come across split infinitives; we do see sentences that end in prepositions. These things are acceptable if they help to make your work flow more smoothly or make your meaning clearer. But, don't use them simply through carelessness.

Let us return, for a moment, to the split infinitive. This is when 'to' is separated from the infinitive by an adverb:

I used to continually talk about my writing, instead of,
I used to talk continually about my writing.

Notice how in the first sentence to talk (the infinitive) has been split by the insertion of the adverb (continually). This is why we call it a 'split infinitive'.

Avoid this if you can but if it would lead to ambiguity or stilted writing then go ahead and use it. Good (and by this we mean clear) writing is still essential if you hope to develop an acceptable style. Briefly, the main points to bear in mind are as follows.

1. You must write in complete sentences. This sounds obvious but each sentence must contain a complete verb and express a complete thought.
   
   The two words 'I think' are a full sentence because there is a complete verb and they express a complete idea. On the other hand, the much longer clause 'because of your understanding of grammar' is not a sentence. There is no complete verb and you are left wondering about the meaning. You need to add more information to make it clear:
   
   Because of your understanding of grammar you should be able to write well.
   or
   You should be able to write good articles because of your understanding of grammar.
   
   Most people write in complete sentences naturally but if you are ever in doubt, read the sentence to yourself. Check that it expresses your idea fully, without leaving any questions in the reader's mind. If your meaning is clear, you will almost certainly have written it correctly.
   
   At this point you might be thinking that you've read books where the authors have sometimes used incomplete sentences. This is true. Sentence fragments can be used in fiction to excellent effect and modern authors, less bound by convention than their predecessors, are increasingly discovering this. But to do it effectively (to heighten tension, achieve emphasis or introduce a film-like effect to description) demands control and discretion on the author's part.
   
   You can also use sentence fragments in dialogue with three dots (ellipsis) to show how the words have trailed off or been cut off by an interruption:
   
   "I thought you..."
   "Don't bother," said Pete. "We don't pay you to think."
   
   But, you have to be fully aware of the rules before you can risk breaking them!
   
   
2. Next, you must check that you have subject/verb agreement. By this we mean that the verb you use agrees in person (ie I, you, he, she, it, we, they) and number (singular or plural) with the subject of the sentence.
   
   The experiment was a great success.
   not
   The experiment were a great success.
   
   Again, most people get this right naturally, just as they do in speech. However, in some long sentences, where additional information has been inserted between the subject and the verb to which it relates, you may lose track of what has been said earlier.
   
   She realised that the information for which she had been searching so hard, and despaired of ever finding, was right under her nose. (Correct)
   
   
3. Then there is the problem which collective nouns can create. These, as you know, represent several people or things as a group: team, crew, government etc. But are they singular or plural?
   
   Collective nouns can, in fact, be either singular or plural. It depends on how you use them. For example, the collective noun 'staff' means the body of workers employed by a company. In the sentence:
   
   The staff is having a lecture on safety procedures.
   
   we are thinking about the staff as one group of people; so it is singular and correct. But in the sentence:
   
   The staff are having their lunch break.
   
   we are thinking about them as individual people. Two of the people are in the office canteen, three or four of them are out shopping and so on. In this case it is plural but equally correct.
   
   It is sometimes hard to decide whether a collective noun is singular or plural. In such cases, it does not matter which form you choose but make sure you do not change from one to another. Make your choice and then be consistent.
   
   
4. Also be consistent in your use of tense. When you are describing events it is better to use the past tense. For most people it is also the most natural (and, therefore, the easiest) way of doing it.
   
   I arrived at the house just as night was falling. It looked deserted but then I noticed a thin trail of smoke coming from the chimney. Suddenly, a curtain twitched and my suspicion that I was being watched was confirmed.
   
   Obviously you will need to use other tenses (present and future) in your writing, just as you would in everyday speech. But, do take care that when you are describing something that happened in the past, no matter how vivid it may seem to you, you use tense consistently. Do not do it like this:
   
   I arrived at the house as night was falling. It looks deserted but then I notice a thin trail of smoke coming from the chimney...
   
   
5. Ambiguity is a lack of clarity, a meaning that can be understood in more than one way. You must check your work for possible ambiguities. Try to avoid your writing having two interpretations. All sorts of problems can be caused if you do not take care in where you place qualifying clauses and phrases. (These are the ones which give you more information about the main subject of the sentence.) Consider the following:
   
   Being a dilapidated cottage, I was able to buy it for a song. It's the cottage which is dilapidated, not the author (we hope!) So it should read:
   
   I was able to buy the cottage for a song as it was in a dilapidated condition.
   
   He had to spend several weeks away from the office which he did not like. What does he not like, the office or being away from it? It would be better to say:
   
   He had to spend several weeks away from the office and he did not enjoy his absence.
   
   Finally, a famous bloomer written in the last century:
   
   I used your soap two years ago; since then I have used no other!
   
   If you write Fuel Minister condemns strikes without reason the reader may be left in doubt whether it was the strikes which were without reason or the Fuel Minister's condemnation of them. Ambiguity is common, however, even in the better quality newspapers and magazines, especially when headlines have a double meaning. Examples such as Local Lord Crowned May Queen (a male May Queen?) or Strong Man Holds up Bus (traffic delay or feat of strength?) are by no means uncommon. This is often done on purpose as the ambiguity attracts the readers' attention and makes them go through the article to clear up the misunderstanding. So, when choosing a title for your work, consider whether it has a double meaning and if this is what you really want.
   
   Another area where ambiguity can creep in is in the use of pronouns.
   
   We use pronouns all the time to replace nouns in a sentence so that we can avoid repetition. But here is a word of warning: beware of using too many pronouns as this can make your meaning unclear.
   
   For instance, the meaning of the following sentence is quite clear: Jones told Smith that Brown was a good writer. If we replace Smith and Brown with pronouns, we get a sentence which is much less clear: Jones told him that he was a good writer.
   
   This is perfectly correct English, but it is not good English, for him and he could be either the same person or a different person. The sentence does not make it clear.
   
   A common mistake with pronouns is to use them to refer to a noun which appeared much earlier in the sentence, or even in a previous sentence. This causes misunderstanding because your reader has difficulty in knowing which noun the pronouns refers to. So always check to ensure that what is clear to you is also clear to your reader.
   
   Moving on, you must also be careful if you start sentences with participles. These usually end in 'ing' and are not complete verbs (Concerning your letter... Considering your outline...). Starting a sentence with one of these is acceptable providing you always make the subject of the sentence clear and you also have a main verb.
   
   There are so many causes of ambiguity that we have only been able to mention a very small sample here. Again, careful thought before you put pen to paper and then even more careful reading of what you have written should help you to avoid it. We cannot stress too heavily the importance of revision if your work is to be of a publishable standard.
   
   
6. Prepositions are the small words which tell us more about nouns as regards time and place. They have an importance far greater than their size would indicate. Their use is normally quite straightforward but there are two specific areas to watch:
   
   Some people consider it bad style to end a sentence with a preposition and it should be avoided unless a very clumsy expression results. Do not, however, go to such great lengths trying to avoid it that you tie yourself in knots. The great statesman, Sir Winston Churchill, preferred clear expression to fine points of grammar. One of his ironic comments was: This is arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.
   
   This is arrant pedantry which I will not put up with obviously sounds better and is clearer despite the preposition at the end; so use your own judgement but make your meaning perfectly clear.
   
   
7. I/me – Fiona and I went to the shop is quite correct. But, She gave the goods to Fiona and I is incorrect. (Take away the words Fiona and... and you'll see what we mean.) Fiona and I should always be used when they are the subject of the sentence but Fiona and me should be used when they are the object.
   
   
8. Have/of – make sure you do not use 'of' instead of the verb 'have'. He should of left by the time we arrive (incorrect). He should have left by the time we arrive (correct). The difference is not always made clear in speech but make sure it is clear in your writing. This is an American virus which seems to be attacking through cartoons and sitcoms!
   
   
9. Off/of – it's surprising how many writers let a character get 'off of a bus'. People get off a bus.
   
   
10. He or she – avoid the following type of mistake: A writer must be dedicated if he or she wants to be successful in his or her chosen career. The alternatives (he/she, (s)he, he or she) are also clumsy. More often than not if you think carefully about how you are going to express your ideas you can, to a large extent, avoid using sexist pronouns.
    
    At one time it was considered very bad style to use a singular pronoun (he/she) and then follow this later in the sentence with (they or their) eg.
    
    Good style: The dedicated writer should be writing, or planning his writing, continually.
    
    Bad style: The dedicated writer should be writing, or planning their writing, continually.
    
    The latter is now considered acceptable by all but purists, as it often helps to avoid using a sexist pronoun.
    
    But, as we have just said, you can often avoid problems by re-writing a sentence completely. What's wrong, in the context of this course, with the following?
    
    You should be writing, or planning your writing, continually.
    
    It's grammatically correct and avoids offending anyone.
    

Remember, if you write grammatically your meaning should be clear and it's the five Cs – correctness, conciseness, clarity, coherence and completeness – that we will be looking at first in our section on style.

Style

Now we come on to a topic which we are sure will interest most of you – style.

Your style is the manner in which you express your ideas. That is the words you use and the order in which you use them.

Your aim should always be for clarity. Your style should be as attractive and as easy to read as you can make it. When we say attractive, we mean that at least it should be attractive to you and sound good when you read it yourself. If you don't like your style, then it is most unlikely that anybody else will either. But, remember this all your writing life, whatever style you develop it should be unique to you.

You can learn a lot by studying the style of other writers. Even so, do not attempt to write exactly like them. It would be, at best, a second-rate imitation.

Your style must develop naturally from within yourself. It is unlikely that you will have a perfect, natural style from the start. It has to be worked at and honed until you produce attractive prose. It takes time to develop your style. The more you practise and write, the more confident and better you will become. Also, we expect your confidence to be boosted by the help you receive from your tutors when doing your assignments.

As long ago as the eighteenth century Jonathan Swift, the famous novelist, commented on writing style as follows: Proper words in proper places makes the true definition of a style. We feel that the same is still true today.

Our own rule to help you, especially in the writing of non-fiction, is this: remember the 5 Cs – correctness, conciseness, clarity, coherence and completeness. Let us now consider these one at a time.

• • Correctness – your facts must be accurate and your use of the English language must also be correct.
  
  
• • Conciseness – this does not necessarily mean brevity. You can write a long article and still be concise. What it does mean is avoiding irrelevant facts, unnecessary words and long-winded explanations.
  
  
• • Clarity – avoid ambiguity. Make what you write clear to your reader by giving all the necessary information and expressing it in a way which is easy to understand.
  
  
  Readers should not have to go through a sentence or paragraph more than once in order to understand its meaning. If your meaning is obscure readers will not spend time puzzling over it. They will turn to something else which can be understood easily, that is if the work is even published in the first place.
  
  Clarity in writing must be preceded by clarity of thought. If you are not sure what you hope to say you cannot expect to express your meaning in the correct words. The better you are at planning, the more skilled you should be at writing. You should have a clear idea of what you want to say at the start, middle and end of an article or story when you sit down to begin it.
  
  
• • Coherence – this means presenting your ideas in an orderly, logical way so that your reader is able to follow your reasoning process.
  
  
• • Completeness – ensure that your reader has all the facts that are available without being burdened with what is unnecessary or trivial.

We are now going to look at a number of ways to achieve a good writing style but as you read on, keep looking back to the 5 Cs – they will help.

Sentences and Paragraphs

You must try to vary the length of your sentences, otherwise your writing will be monotonous. If all your sentences are short your work will appear awkward and childish. If all your sentences are long there is a great danger that they will become too complex and difficult to understand. A careful mixture of the two is ideal.

While on the subject of sentences, let's just take a quick look at word order.

The normal word order in English sentences is determined by the basic rule:

Subject + predicate
(The writer) + (must do his market research carefully)

This is usually true, but not always. Sentences may contain the same information, but the information may be given in a different order. We can often change word order if we want to change the topic of the sentence or the focus of the reader's attention:

Subject + predicate
(Market Research) + (must be done carefully by the writer)

Here, to emphasise the importance of market research, we have put it at the start of the sentence.

By experimenting with different methods of arranging word order in sentences, you can improve your style and your ability to create the impact you want.

Here are some more examples of word order variation. Each of the alternatives is correct but each has a slightly different emphasis. You would choose the one which best fits the rhythm of your prose.

The reference books are, or soon will be, available.
The reference books are, or will soon be, available.

It is not easy, in retrospect, to analyse how the mistake happened.
In retrospect, it is not easy to analyse how the mistake happened.

In saying this, of course, I am seeking simply to explain how the book was written.
Of course, in saying this, I am simply seeking to explain how the book was written.

Things are not always this simple, however. As we have already seen, the position of a word may either confuse or change the meaning of a phrase or sentence.

If you write:

I badly need to finish my book everyone will know that you are in a hurry to finish it.

But if you write:

I need to finish my book badly do you mean that you want a book with an unhappy ending or one with a weak ending? Probably not, but the meaning is far from clear. Adverbs, like 'badly', are often the culprits in this kind of ambiguity; so always read your work through carefully to avoid making gaffs like this.

As well as variety in sentence length and construction, also try to vary the length of your paragraphs. For every new idea you should start a new paragraph and each paragraph should contain a topic sentence which expresses its main theme. If you always bear this in mind it should help you to attain the coherence that we mentioned earlier.

To give more impact to your information, try to position the main idea at the beginning or at the end of a paragraph. Or, consider using it on its own as a single sentence paragraph.

The trend now is away from long, involved sentences and paragraphs but the requirements of different markets vary; so always check and adapt your writing so that it is suitable. You don't find many like this now:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

[Charles Dickens – A Tale Of Two Cities]

If you do your sums you will find that paragraph consists of a single long sentence, containing 119 words and broken up by 17 commas and a dash! Because of the excellent punctuation it is still easy to read and understand but we certainly don't advocate you should copy it.

Also, nowadays most readers expect a novel or short story to begin straightaway – you must grab their interest at once. There is little place in modern writing for such lengthy preambles.

Verbs

You can often use a verb in either its active form or its passive form but in your work try to use active verbs. This will make your writing more positive and vivid.

Passive: This shrub must be planted in well-fertilized, damp soil.
Active: Plant this shrub in well-fertilized, damp soil.

Remember, the active form is often shorter and better for the sharper and more direct style that many publications today require. Looking back a little, though, it is possible to use the passive voice to effect when you wish to change the focus of a sentence. Consider the following:

Active: The boy rode a huge bay horse.
Or
Passive: The huge bay horse was ridden by a boy.

In the first sentence it is the boy that holds our attention, in the second it is the horse.

Use Linking Words and Sign Posts

Another way of ensuring that your writing is coherent is to provide sign posts for your reader. Certain words and phrases are useful in making your writing easier to follow. They show the reader in advance which way your argument will develop.

You can use these words to bring in extra arguments:

These words introduce opposing ideas:

There are, of course, many others including:

So you should never lack words to make your writing flow in a smooth and interesting way. One thing you must be careful of, though, is the over-use of some of these words. It can become very boring for your reader if every other sentence starts with however or although. Variety, as well as being the spice of life, also brings out the flavour in good writing!

Choose the Right Word

To achieve correctness and clearness in your writing you must be able to choose exactly the right word to express your meaning. Many words in English have the same meanings as others:

The list is endless and you will often find that one word is used in everyday speech while the other sounds rather grander. The words fatherly and paternal demonstrate this point admirably.

So first, you must decide what kind of word is suitable for your subject matter. Avoid using obscure words in the hope of impressing the reader. If your readers have to keep consulting a dictionary in order to understand what you have written, they will not be impressed – they will be irritated. So do not use a long, difficult word if there is a more familiar one that conveys the same meaning.

Look at the following:

Obviously the words in the list on the right are simpler; so if you are trying to write something that everyone can understand choose these. However, don't go too far the other way and use only words of one syllable. Readers soon find this patronising; so try to strike a happy balance. English is a language with a rich vocabulary and you should take advantage of that fact.

Just to complicate matters many words have similar but slightly different meanings or a slight difference in strength. Being aware of this and the different effects you can achieve by the careful choice of words is essential

If you look in your dictionary you will see that questioned and interrogated have the same meanings, but consider this:

He was questioned about his whereabouts the previous evening.
He was interrogated about his whereabouts the previous evening.

The first sentence conjures up pictures of an ordinary investigation. The second gives the impression of violence and coercion.

Or this:

She left her child and went off on her own.
She abandoned her infant and went off on her own.

The former could be any mother leaving her child with a friend whilst shopping. The latter has an air of Victorian melodrama. As you can see, leave simply suggests the action of quitting whereas abandon is much more final and complete in its implications.

Your use of the exact word to convey your meaning can make your writing much more precise. Also, different words have different connotations and create different emotional responses in your reader; so they can have a great effect on the tone of your writing. Never think it's a waste of effort to spend time and care on this aspect of your writing.

Before you use a word think:

• • Will it be understood by the reader?
• • Does it convey the exact shade of meaning I desire?

A good test of this is to read your work aloud. The author and playwright, John Cannon, has the following to say about radio stories and it applies equally to anything you write:

Whether you read it aloud or someone does it for you the result will be the same. You have changed from writer to listener. Every time a certain word or phrase jangles in your mind or causes you any doubt at all be prepared to change. I'm not saying you should. You alone can make the decision and there are times when an unusual or uncommon word can improve the whole. But consider alternatives.

Capital Letters

Reserve capital letters for proper nouns (Peter, Manchester, France etc) and full or formal titles (Mr, Mrs etc). Don't use them in a general, descriptive context. For example:

Jobs – people's occupations are merely job descriptions, so don't need a capital unless combined with a name – eg Doctor Smith but 'the doctor's surgery'. Certain natural positions, which might be considered a job, do have capital letters because the role is more significant than the person filling it – for example, Lord Chief Justice. But roles such as the managing director of a company are usually written without capital letters.

Places (hospitals, universities etc) – only use capitals if the name is attached. Bristol University and North Manchester Hospital are formal titles, but 'my daughter is at university' and 'my aunt is in hospital' are mere statements and do not require capital letters.

Areas (beaches, hills, streets etc) – again, only use a capital if this is an address: 'James lives in West Beach' but 'I went swimming at the beach'.

Relatives (aunt, uncle, grandmother, father etc) – these only have capital letters in the context of their name, ie how they are addressed. So you can say 'I went to the cinema with Aunt Susan' but you would say 'Susan Wells is my aunt'. In the former 'Aunt Susan' is a proper title, whereas 'my aunt' is a reference to her relationship to you – as in 'my sister' or 'my friend'.

Use capitals for days of the week and months of the year. For example, 'Sunday' is the first day of the week. But if you are talking about them in general terms use lower case, 'I always enjoy sundays'.

But what about things like brazil nuts and brussel sprouts? Because they are preceded by a proper noun (Brazil and Brussels) you would expect them to have a capital letter. But through usage they are now treated as common nouns and do not take a capital letter.

And finally, the letter 'I' referring to 'me'. This must always have a capital letter. Most people will think we're stating the obvious here but a number of students submit work where they have used 'i'. This is still one of the rules that must be followed.

Numbers

It is usual to write numbers from one to nine and then use figures for 10 and above. But try to be consistent. The sentence There can be a very wide range of reading skills in children between the ages of nine and 12 looks rather silly. In a situation like this it is probably better to use nine and twelve or 9 and 12.

Where numbers are very large and the omission of a '0' would cause a significant difference you might put the number in words after the figures – 10,000 (ten thousand) is very different to 100,000 (one hundred thousand).

Finally, we suggest that when you start a sentence with a number you spell it. Forty people attended the party not 40 people attended the party.

These are very brief and basic guidelines on capital letters and numbers. What we suggest is that when you are studying a publication before writing for it you make a note of their usage in these areas and then follow this.

Things to Avoid

Verbosity is the unnecessary use of a large number of words. If you are one of those people who find it extremely difficult to write economically, get your story or article onto paper, verbiage and all. It may drastically exceed the desired length, so mega-editing will be required. This cutting process should have the side effect of teaching you to write with greater economy.

Later in the modules we will show you how to revise your work and do summaries to help develop your powers of expression and tighten your style.

There are two main areas of padding that need to be brought to your attention – circumlocution and repetition.

Let us look first at circumlocution. Although it sounds very technical, according to the dictionary it simply means: the use of many words where few would do. For example:

There are, of course, many others; so be on the look-out for them.

Cliché often falls into this category too. Clichés are well-known phrases or sayings that have been grossly over-used. As a result, people become very familiar with them and use them loosely and out of context. This means that eventually they become meaningless. Politicians (and, sadly, journalists) are often guilty of using clichés. You should avoid them in your written work.

Here are some examples (and the single words that could easily replace them):

Clichés are very good examples of everyday speech that should not be translated directly into dialogue. Unless, of course, you are trying to make a particular point about a character by the way he speaks – perhaps a politician using empty clichés in his rhetoric.

Earlier, we mentioned repetition. The meaning of this is clear and here are just a few examples of the use of two words where one would be sufficient.

What we have shown you above is tautology which simply means saying the same thing twice in different words. For instance: to speak all at once together. It is better to write either:

to speak all at once
or
to speak all together

Yet another trap that writers often fall into is that of word repetition. Even the best writers occasionally do it. A word becomes fixed in their mind and it is repeated through several paragraphs, sometimes twice or more in a single sentence. It may be correct each time to use the word in this context but for the sake of readable text try not to repeat the same word too often. Again, this should become obvious in your revision. Look at this:

One of the things our ancestors would find amazing about the modern world is our highly developed communications systems. We can communicate with people across the globe and this communication gives a greater understanding of their aspirations and problems.

You could re-write it like this:

One of the things our ancestors would find amazing about the modern world is our highly developed communications systems. We can be in contact with people across the globe and this sharing of ideas gives a greater understanding of their aspirations and problems.

In addition, there is the kind of repetition where a phrase or idea is repeated within the same paragraph or page without the repetition serving any purpose. This may irritate your reader or simply bore him.

There are certain times, though, when some repetition may be desirable – when you wish to emphasise an important point perhaps. You must take care how you do this and planning is important to make the technique work well.

Look at the final paragraph of Margaret Mitchell's book Gone With The Wind. You'll see she uses tomorrow three times in a very short paragraph – but it works!

"I'll think of it all tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day."

You can hear the heroine, Scarlett O'Hara, trying to convince herself and feel her determination. Repetition is acceptable if you can use it to such good effect.

Slang and Obscenities

Slang words should generally be avoided in your writing, especially non-fiction. Slang is often used in everyday speech because of poor vocabulary or lazy thinking. However, there are some types of fiction such as period detective stories, novels about urban street life or drug culture where the slang is so well known that readers will expect you to use it. But, be wary of using slang where the meaning is not absolutely clear. Also, slang expressions change very fast and heavy use of them can make your work date rapidly. You only need to think of some of the novels of the twenties to realise how old-fashioned they seem to modern readers. So, our advice is to use it with discretion.

Obscenities should, in many ways, be treated in a similar way to slang. Their use is still unacceptable in non-fiction. When it comes to fiction you must decide for yourself how much you need them. The over-use of obscenities is not recommended, especially if you put them in simply to appear modern. Instead, they'll just seem crude.

On the other hand, do not leave them out because of a feeling of prudishness. If you genuinely feel that your characters would use such words, or they will create effect, then you must include them.

When talking about obscenities, our comments are concerned with the actual obscene words, not the context in which you use them. Nowadays, your descriptions do not have to stop at the bedroom door. So, the explicitness of your sex scenes will depend largely on your own inclinations. But, as many writers have demonstrated, explicit sex does not have to be crude or obscene. In fact, it is usually the more effective for not being so.

There are occasions when obscenities can be very effective. A foul expletive coming out of the blue from an unexpected quarter can have quite a startling, funny or shocking effect. One of the best examples is, of course, Eliza Doolittle's, 'Not bloody likely' in Shaw's Pygmalion – an expression which, at the time, was just as shocking as many of the much cruder words used today.

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