I have found specimens of the most effective writing, not in books on style but on bill boards. The billboards in Banglore are remarkable for the triteness of their messages. I haven’t come across a single one which held my attention.

Not so in other countries. In earlier installments of this column I have quoted some specimens of fine writing: If it is in fashion, it is in Vogue (Ad. For Vogue magazine, New York); When it rains it pours (Morton salt); If we have to lower our prices any further, we will have to go below the floor (a mechanic’s shop in Fremont, California); If there is anything fresher, it is still swimming in the ocean (a Cape town restaurant).

Well, I came across a real gem right here in Gaborone (Botswana)

Something fishy. One bite and you are hooked– a signboard of a restaurant serving fish!

A pure vegetarian, I couldn’t test the truth of the statement but I could savor the aroma of it (the advertisement). The whole thing can be read as a figurative (idiomatic) statement about something which is going to catch you (a trap). But in this case it is (partly) literal.

It is about their fish. One bite is again literal, but the next part (you are hooked) is figurative. Then again the whole sentence One bite and you are hooked can also be literal- in connection with a fish (angling).

It is this shuttling between the literal and the figurative which makes the copy memorable.

If/unless

A negative if–clause is equivalent to an unless-clause. If you don’t ask for a refund you won’t get it/ Unless you ask for a refund you won’t get it. An affirmative if clause (or more correctly an If - clause with a non-negative verb) is not equivalent to an unless — clause. if you boil water, it evaporates/Unless you boil water it wont evaporate.

But: if you have a pass you can enter the field, unless you have a pass you cant enter the field.

How come that the unless-clause is equivalent to an if – clause even though the if – clause is not negative?

OK. When the if- clause expresses the necessary and sufficient condition for the main clause event to happen, the if– clause is = the unless – clause.

The necessary and sufficient condition may be expressed with/without a negation in the if – clause. Boiling is not the necessary and sufficient condition for water to evaporate. It may evaporate in the sunlight. So in this case the unless- clause is not equivalent to the if –clause. The necessary and sufficient condition may be expressed by some restrictive adverb. Only if you have a pass you can enter/If you don’t have a pass you can’t enter.

Comparison

Comparison involves two or more different entities. Russia is bigger than china./The pacific is the biggest of all the oceans. But in my deepest sympathies the different entities are not out there in the real world. They are different levels of sympathy within you. Thus when George Bush declared recently: ‘He (Donald Rumsfeld) has my fullest confidence and deepest appreciation’, he was referring to levels of confidence and appreciation within himself.

The distinction just made has an even more abstract counterpart. We can think of a quality as exhibited by different persons. We can also, in an abstract way, think of the same quality in terms of gradations in itself. This has an interesting reflex in the language. She was the most accomplished singer./She was a most accomplished singer. In the first one we are comparing her with all other singers (of her time?);in the second one we are looking at different levels of accomplishment in the abstract. This difference is reflected in the choice of the articles.

Because in the first case the person is being compared with others, the sentence is ungrammatical as it stands. The set/field of comparison must be indicated. She was the most accomplished singer of her day/in her family, etc. But not so in the second. It is grammatical as it stands. If you add an expression indicating a set, it actually takes away from her accomplishment. She was a most accomplished person of her time. He was a most valued player in his time does not say much when the team as a whole may be mediocre.

The gradation— in the — abstract can be expressed, in some cases, at least, without a degree expression: the height of audacity; the depth of despair; the pink of health; the peak of perfection, etc.

The writer can be contacted at vinven@it.bw

Maxims and Observations of Kay S. Wye

What shall uphold the law when criminals rule the state?