British English – Are These Phrases Too Posh-Sounding for Conversational English?

british-englishtone

I'm German, and I try to speak British English as best I can, it's the language I've learned at school, and I'm always trying to be consistent. However, much of my English vocabulary and phrasing I picked up from British television programmes, films and books. Which is why I often use phrases like these:

  • It's not at all confusing

  • Thank you very much indeed

I also use the British English spelling even if both forms are accepted and in use:

Right click to open the Preferences dialogue

And even mix the two if needed:

You need to set the --color=always argument so that colours are escaped properly

My question therefore: Do I sound posh? Does my language come across as professorial or holier-than-thou? If so, what can I do to sound more appropriate?

Please underpin your answers with some references. This is not meant to be a discussion of opinion; I'm sure there is some evidence available on the subject.(Or vote to close it as argumentative if you disagree)

Best Answer

For technical documentations, you can sound as sophisticated as you want: if the reader gets immediately what he/she is supposed to do, it doesn't matter.

I would however follow the advices of “The Elements of International English Style” by Edmond Weiss, as they refer to a more "neutral" form of English, which has greater chance to be understood by any reader.

  • write with sentence simple enough to understand without any ambiguity (i.e., the Principle of Simplicity).
  • write with sentence clear enough to understand without any ambiguity (i.e., the Principle of Clarity).
  • reduce the visual burden of reading due to lazy punctuation, page layout, or a combination of other factors (i.e., the Principle of Reducing the Burden).

The last chapter addresses the inescapable need for cultural adaptation.
Even if one is a master of English he or she can still make errors in technical documentation of the cultural context is ignored.

Related Topic