Apr 9, 2015

Passive Aggressive

The great thing about passive voice in bureaucratic writing is how it allows for the person doing the writing to not attribute any responsibility to any persons(s).

Consider:
"It has been decided to remove access to xyz"

Not "I have decided" or "we have decided", but "it has been". Borderline euphemistic, don't-come-complaining-to-me. Blame the ether.

1 comment:

Santosh Kumar T K said...

Yes, protocols/manuals dictate that it's bad form to employ passive voice in formal writing. It separates the doer from his responsibilities.

But it's of great help when working in teams! :)