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That's just a manner of speaking in former British colonies, or at least the subcontinent. Much of formal speech like a bureaucrat wrote it because, well, the c
by throwaway638637 10mo ago
That's just a manner of speaking in former British colonies, or at least the subcontinent. Much of formal speech like a bureaucrat wrote it because, well, the civil service ran India and that's who everyone emulated.
- hbarka 10mo agoIt’s still passive voice, the kind used when trying to avoid blame or responsibility. So pretty much fits in bureaucratic places. That’s just…mistakes were made.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- throwup238 10mo agoThis pattern of writing goes back to the Spanish conquistadors at the very least. They frequently described their actions in a passive voice when doing something they knew was horrible, only to switch to aggrandizing active voice when writing about their successes. It’s a standard way to blur responsibility and present violence as an almost natural “fact” rather than a deliberate action by identifiable agents. It didn’t escape everyone’s attention though. Bartolomé de las Casas definitely noticed it.
- thoroughburro 10mo ago> That's just a manner of speaking in former British colonies, or at least the subcontinent. Which is still a good example of when you shouldn't use passive voice. Clarifying where “optimising language to evade a responsibility” evolved does nothing to justify it, which you imply with “that’s just”.