巴菲特：一本简明英语手册 序言 A Plain English Handbook Preface

时间：1997年1月13日

来源：[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission](https://www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf)

原文标题：A Plain English Handbook Preface

这本手册，以及莱维特主席推动披露文件使用“简明英语”的整个行动，对我来说是个好消息。四十多年来，我一直在研究上市公司提交的文件。很多时候，我无法理解他们到底在说什么，或者更糟糕的是，不得不得出他们什么也没说的结论。如果公司律师和他们的客户遵循这本手册的建议，我的生活会变得容易得多。

This handbook, and Chairman Levitt’s whole drive to encourage “plain English” in disclosure documents, are good news for me. For more than forty years, I’ve studied the documents that public companies file. Too often, I’ve been unable to decipher just what is being said or, worse yet, had to conclude that nothing was being said. If corporate lawyers and their clients follow the advice in this handbook, my life is going to become much easier.

有几种可能的解释，为什么我和其他人有时会对一个会计注释或债券说明感到困惑。也许我们只是没有足够的专业知识来理解作者想要传达的内容。或者也许作者自己也不明白他或她在说什么。在某些情况下，我怀疑一个不太诚实的发行人并不希望我们理解他或她觉得有法律义务提及的主题。

There are several possible explanations as to why I and others some­ times stumble over an accounting note or indenture description. Maybe we simply don’t have the technical knowledge to grasp what the writer wishes to convey. Or perhaps the writer doesn’t understand what he or she is talking about. In some cases, moreover, I suspect that a less-than­ scrupulous issuer doesn’t want us to understand a subject it feels legally obligated to touch upon.

也许最常见的问题是，一个善意而有见识的作者无法把信息传达给一个聪明而感兴趣的读者。在这种情况下，生硬的行话和复杂的结构通常是罪魁祸首。

Perhaps the most common problem, however, is that a well-intentioned and informed writer simply fails to get the message across to an intelligent, interested reader. In that case, stilted jargon and complex constructions are usually the villains.

这本手册告诉你如何摆脱那些阻碍有效沟通的障碍。按照这本手册的指示写作，你会惊讶地发现你的读者会认为你变得更聪明了。

This handbook tells you how to free yourself of those impediments to effective communication. Write as this handbook instructs you and you will be amazed at how much smarter your readers will think you have become.

一个不新鲜但有用的建议：写作时要有一个特定的对象在心中。当我写伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的年度报告时，我假装我在跟我的姐妹们说话。我很容易想象他们：虽然他们非常聪明，但他们不是会计或金融方面的专家。他们能理解简单的英语，但行话可能会让他们困惑。我的目标很简单，就是给他们提供我希望他们在我们的位置互换时提供给我的信息。要成功，我不需要成为莎士比亚；我必须有一个真诚地想要传达信息的愿望。

One unoriginal but useful tip: Write with a specific person in mind. When writing Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report, I pretend that I’m talking to my sisters. I have no trouble picturing them: Though highly intelligent, they are not experts in accounting or finance. They will understand plain English, but jargon may puzzle them. My goal is simply to give them the information I would wish them to supply me if our positions were reversed. To succeed, I don’t need to be Shakespeare; I must, though, have a sincere desire to inform.

没有兄弟姐妹可以写信给吗？借我的吧：只要以“亲爱的多丽丝和伯蒂”开头。

No siblings to write to? Borrow mine: Just begin with “Dear Doris and Bertie.”