Briefness in Communications

Briefness and simplicity are great virtues when expressing a concept in a foreign language. I like to remind my students a Chekhov’s anecdote. As a judge in a literary contest about the sea, he chose a child’s composition. It was poetic and brief: How great is the sea!

To convey a complex concept use vocabulary and constructions you master. Let’s contrast the following two approaches to express the same:

1. Estoy muy apurado [1], tengo una prisa [2] extrema por ir a mi próxima reunión y, me es imprescindible [3] enviar este paquete muy importante a la embajada. ¿Sería usted tan amable [4] de hacerme el favor, le agradecería mucho si usted pudiera hacerlo por mi [5].
2. Puede llevar esto [6] a la embajada. Es urgente. Gracias.

Diccionario

[1] Estoy apurado = I am in a hurry. [2] Tengo prisa = I am in a hurry; I am pressed for time. [3] Impresindeble = urgent. [4] Seria usted tan amable = would you be so kind. [5] Si usted pudiera hacerlo por mi = if you could do it for me. [6] Puede usted llevar esto = can you take this.

Being direct without offending is an art. And all artists agree art is one percent inspiration and 99 percent work. Practice what you need to express. For example, which of the following alternatives would you suggest to this manager who speaks in circles:

I have been thinking about this report of yours, I have been studying it carefully, and I have concluded, I must say, that in view of my analysis, that you have clearly shown determination, but perhaps you need to concentrate a bit more when it comes to numbers; you see, the figures in your report don't correspond to reality. And we have a problem because we are in a hurry as the estimates are for this afternoon. What are we going to do?

1. He estado pensando que su informe, este informe suyo, que he estado estudiando cuidadosamente, sobre la base de mi análisis, me parece que usted tiene mucha determinación, pero quizás necesita poner un poquito más de concentración en lo que a los números se refiere; pues, mire, los números en su informe no corresponden con la realidad. Y estamos apurados porque necesitamos esos cálculos para esta tarde, ¿qué vamos a hacer?
2. ¿Usa usted la cabeza[1] solamente para poner el sombrero[2], o qué?
3. ¡Vuelva a hacer[3] estas cuentas ahora mismo[4], idiota!
4. Veo[5] inconsistencias en estos cálculos, puede corregirlos[6] cuanto antes[7], por favor.

Diccionario

[1] Usa usted la cabeza = Do you use the head [2] Para poner el sombrero = to put the hat [3] Vuelva a hacer = do it again [4] Ahora mismo = right now [5] Puede corregirlos = can you revise them. Revisar doesn't mean to revise but to check. [6] Cuanto antes = as soon as possible.