Perhaps the steep decline in the ‘quality’ of written and spoken language has never been as rapid as it has been in the past two to three decades. Like the Titanic, anything of substance takes a very long time to sink. In the context of the development and decline of language and societies, thirty to forty years is a drop in the ocean of time. This affliction of the downturn in language is not restricted to any particular geographic area; neither is it confined to any one segment of society or industry. It is a malaise without borders and is, hence, widespread. No language today is safe from this onslaught that reduces it to base human instincts freely expressed, with inhibitions thrown out of the window.
In the not-too-distant past, the words chosen for communication were considered to reflect upbringing, schooling, and family. The consistent vulgarisation of language, locally and globally, is a rude reality.
Corporate communication is as much a victim of this crass, obnoxious, and indecent slide. The niceties are becoming a rarity, almost heading towards extinction, and are no longer a part of communication. The sacrifice in quality is done under the guise and pretext of lack of time and the need for speed. It is argued that it is corporate culture that drives the content and quality of communication.
Language is critical to good communication. Possibly, for initiating, maintaining, and strengthening any type or format of relationship, the nature and quality of communication are extremely important. We keep hearing that children do not understand what their parents mean; parents do not understand their children; husbands and wives don’t understand each other. In the same vein, managers and supervisors don’t understand each other. It is not that they cease to talk to each other, but they are simply not ‘communicating’. In very simple terms, conversation is perfect only when the message ‘intended’ is the message ‘received’ by the recipient. Any dichotomy would deprive communication of its true meaning.
We are surrounded by insensitive communicators. Some people are so insensitive that they cannot talk to a cripple without mentioning feet. “It is the province of knowledge to speak and the privilege of wisdom to listen.” ‘He talked forever; and you wished him to talk on forever’ (William Hazlitt). Queen Victoria, in jest, once said about William Gladstone, the famous Prime Minister, ‘he speaks to me as if I were a public meeting’. Communication shouldn’t be an eruption of a disease called ‘talking incessantly’.
In many cultures and geographies, including some parts of our country, the use of expletives in everyday conversation is considered normal. It is not looked down upon. In fact, many users of obscene language remain unaware that they actually use swear words. They are oblivious to the profanity they utter. I had a senior colleague who would invariably use the worst adjectives. Upon being called out for these lapses, he would express ignorance. On one occasion, I pointed out to him his use of an expletive during the meeting. He didn’t believe he could have said anything inappropriate. He claimed it was not in his habit. The use of four-letter words or abbreviated expletives is so common with many that there is no realisation on their part. I asked, what did you have in mind? Did you abuse the individual or the issue at hand? He kept insisting he does not use expletives. It was a habit.
The multinationals, which were once in plenty in Pakistan, produced more ‘Brown Sahibs’ than the East India Company could have imagined in its almost 200-year history. These Brown Sahibs, in aping their foreign supervisors, particularly from across the Atlantic, made liberal use of words unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman… including, ‘O, Christ…’ (deliberately not quoting in full, holy this, holy that, etc.).
Language has become vulgar. All segments of society have contributed towards the decline in the quality of conversations. The politicians take the cake; of course, there are bankers, journalists, doctors, lawyers, film writers, lyricists. Some do not fall under the watchful, intrusive, and unholy cameras and the lethal social media. Hence, their unique fund of filthy words remains obscured.
Unfortunately, it is now quite commonly believed that the use of profane words releases stress and tension. Between ‘what the hell’ and ‘what the heck’, it is difficult to say which is worse because both mean the same.
There is an opinion that language prevents violence. The theory is that the use of swear words in communication is a good alternative to becoming physical. John Cohen, writing in The Observer, stated, “The man who first abused his fellows with swear words instead of bashing their brains out with a club should be counted among those who laid the foundations of civilisation.” Verbal warfare has a preference over physical warfare because it doesn’t leave behind death, only wounded souls and decimated egos.
Many words of decent import and meaning over the years have acquired entirely new meanings by way of usage. Everyday ordinary words have become words of abuse. Regrettably, human anatomy is the basis for the growth and development of explicitly crass and ugly adjectives. Many are gender-specific. It is also not imagination, but fact, that both males and females use expletives. To protect myself and the readers from blushing with embarrassment, I refrain from mentioning the conversion of decent words into expletives in this piece. Intelligent readers have the licence to develop their own scrolls of such words, whose meanings are now housed in duplicity.
George Bernard Shaw (GBS) said the best English is one that the receiver, the listener, understands. On a different occasion, he highlighted what the language of communication should capture and deliver to the audience. Speaking about the Hungarian language, he remarked, “After studying the Hungarian language for years, I can confidently conclude that had Hungarian been my mother tongue, it would have been more precious. Simply because through this extraordinary, ancient and powerful language, it is possible to precisely describe the tiniest differences and the most secretive tremors of emotions.”
The sweetness of language, like, say, French, Persian, or Bengali, doesn’t in any manner take away the sting of their respective words of vulgarity and abuse. It is also worth noting that both Urdu and Punjabi, which are spoken in offices, can give stiff competition to the named languages, including Hungarian, when it comes to detailed and explicit words. The art of imagination and creativity has to be at its best for developing a new vocabulary of profane words.
Only an artificial language such as Esperanto has no swear or expletive words. On Wikipedia’s search engine, it is said that the language that has the most swear words is Croatian, with over one hundred expletives for five million native speakers. Norway, shockingly to this scribe, comes in at second place with 94 swear words for 5.6 million speakers, while their neighbours in Sweden have a variety exceeding 120 variants of abusive words. I luckily never worked in Scandinavia, so I can, alongside the readers, imagine and wonder about the beauty of corporate language in vogue there.
In the corporate sector, vulgar language, though considered bad and unacceptable, is rampant. It is neither a sign of power nor of weakness to use profanity. It, however, significantly showcases the education and upbringing of an individual. The sad breach of social norms and etiquette while communicating before any audience, of any type, is conduct unbecoming. It is best to choose the right and acceptable word while in communication, both verbal and written.
Sirajuddin Aziz
The writer is a senior banker and freelance contributor.