The Penguin Guide to Plain English

Controlling these problems does not come under the heading of sport.
The problem s concern the business o f controlling antelopes and, in a
very crudely conversational sense, the antelopes may b e problems. But
however one looks at it, the difference is that antelopes have to be
controlled and that problem s have to be solved, and you can no m ore
control a problem than you can solve an antelope.
Another m uch used word, issue, also tends to such vagueness that
precision gets lost in its use. Here is an observation on football tactics by
a commentator:
The issue of diving and over-reacting, basically cheating, needs to be quickly
eradicated, probably using video technology.
There is m ore than one issue here. To use the w ord basically as the
equivalent of in other w ords is characteristic o f what is now a general
loose treatment of the word. But m ore serious is the claim that an issue
should be eradicated. It is not the issue w hich the w riter really wants
to be rid of, but the practice of diving and over-reacting.

Preserving Congruity in a Sequence

Loss o f consistency and coherence occurs in improperly controlled
accumulations of items. Track is lost of a crucial w ord because w hat
follows it wanders away from accurate preservation o f its meaning. Here
is some publicity material from a major bank:
This means that our income on retirement is likely to be based on pensions
from a number of different sources. Each of these must be tracked down,
calculated and taken into account for someone to build up an accurate
picture of the kind of retirement they will enjoy.
The w riters first sentence focuses on the sources o f pensions. Each of
these must be tracked do w n makes sense, because these means the
sources of the pensions. But to continue by saying that each o f these
must be calculated is totally incongruous. One does not calculate a
source. A different subject is required for the verb calculate and w hat
follows. The mistake arises because the w riter has used the w ord these
and then forgotten exactly w hat it refers to. Better avoid it: Each source
must be tracked dow n, the pensions calculated and taken into account.