For this explanation, nearly 20 years ago I saw the term "Eschew Obfuscation" on a church sign in Azle TX and it stuck with me ever since.
"Eschew obfuscation, also stated as: "eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation", is a common humorous saying of English teachers and professors when lecturing about proper writing techniques.
Literally, the meaning is "avoid ambiguity, adopt clarity", but the use of relatively uncommon words in the English language itself causes confusion, making the phrase a prime example of irony.
The phrase has appeared in print at least as early as 1959, when it was used as a section heading in a NASA document.
The linguist Paul Grice used the phrase in the "Maxim of Manner", one of the Gricean maxims."
Wikipedia
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2 comments:
Them bloody daft English and their silly words..
x
Oh, and don't forget to enunciate...
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