Let’s take a close look at how to craft
the language of certitude in our written or spoken English. At its most basic level, this language involves the use of such common expressions as “of course,” “obvious” or “obviously,” “certain” or “certainly,” “clear” or “clearly,” “evident” and “evidently,” “no doubt” or “doubtless,” and “positive” or “positively.” When judiciously used, however, these expressions can powerfully reinforce and show our own conviction and belief in our own ideas, thus fostering the likelihood of their acceptance by our readers or listeners.
That, of course, is the positive aspect of the language of certitude. The negative aspect is that precisely the same words can be used to mislead people to accept or believe things without proof; they are powerful tools of propagandists, con-men, and charlatans for exploiting the credulity of their readers and listeners and for making them act against their own self-interest.
Here’s how an inventor who is utterly clueless about the language of certitude might make a presentation to an audience of venture capitalists:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I know that you have serious reservations about my invention, but let me try to show you that it really works. For sure it malfunctioned in the previous five dry runs, but in all the subsequent runs, it encountered only very minor problems. You had reasons to doubt it before, but this time, you can take my word for it that although it still needs refinements, we can probably test market it in maybe six months. I am assuming, however, that there will be no problems in securing development funding for it.”
If you were one of the venture capitalists in that audience, would you put your money on the line for that inventor and his invention? Most unlikely—there simply is too much doubt and equivocation in his presentation to inspire confidence and belief.
But now listen to the same inventor, now wiser and adequately drilled in the language of certitude, making a pitch for his invention to the same audience of venture capitalists:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to completely banish any reservations you might still have about my invention. I am now sure that the device works. The minor problems associated with its first dry runs have been definitely ironed out, so now I am confident of getting it ready for a test market in as early as six months, which is our firm target schedule. It still needs refinements, of course, but with the development funding that we are confident you will provide for it, we are positive of putting it in the market right on schedule.”
By exuding genuine confidence and infectious optimism, the inventor now strikes us as someone who means every word he says. Doubts may remain, but he definitely bolsters his chances of lining up investor support, more so if he can buttress his claims with convincing proof or supporting information.
Now to the negative side of the language of certitude. The general rule, of course, is to always put ourselves on the alert when we are at its receiving end. We have to steel ourselves against people who are too glib in their language, who use words of certitude to cover for the absence of proof or supporting evidence for their claims.
To be effective writers and speakers then, we have to aim for greater mastery of the language of certitude; we can’t win people to our side by mincing our words or telegraphing our doubts. But when we are at the receiving end of such language, we owe it to ourselves to be nothing short of doubting Thomases. That’s our only line of defense against being conned and losing both our own treasure and our self-respect.
This essay, 2117th of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the September 22, 2022 digital edition of The Manila Times
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Giving our English the power of certitude(Next week:
The importance of grammar-perfect English) September 29, 2022
Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.
