What is "Gou Jian"?

Gou Jian: Gou Jian is simple.

Simplification can easily lead to misunderstanding

In terms of the use of language in writing, it should be said that conciseness is the best. However, for their own convenience, some people want to save time and effort, simplify words excessively, and create words or phrases that are difficult for others to understand. This practice is called Gou Jian. Please look at an example:

The front page of China Youth Daily on April 17, 1992 had an article entitled "Using edible alcohol to pass off as Hongshan Daqu Urumqi Brewery to deceive consumers and be punished". The article contains Such a sentence: "The Xinjiang Bureau of Standards determined that what it (referring to Urumqi Brewery - the quoter's note) did was an illegal act of mixing fake products and confiscated the illegal income of 210,000 yuan; revoked the product quality certificate of 'Hongshan Daqu'; the bank terminated the loan "Exposed by the press." The title said he was "punished," but the text said "not punished." At first glance, it seems a bit confusing. Readers can't help but ask: Was he punished?

Based on a reasonable analysis, the "confiscation of illegal gains of 210,000 yuan" should mean that in addition to the confiscation of illegal gains, a fine was also imposed. The sum of confiscation and fines is 210,000 yuan. The news simply shortens "confiscation of fines" to "confiscation of fines", which can easily cause readers to misunderstand: "无", which should be read as mò, meaning the verb "confiscate", is misread as méi, which is understood as a negative adverb " No". The cause of misreading and misunderstanding lies in Gou Jian.

In the same newspaper, there was an article on page 2 on March 6, 1992 with the title: "Red Flag Train Lost and Found." Lost and found the "train"? Strange! After reading the text, it turns out that the title of "Red Flag Train" was "lost and recovered". Two words are missing, giving readers a false alarm! It would be better to change the title to "The Title of "Red Flag Train" Was Lost and Found".

There is a slogan about family planning propaganda: "Salute to couples with an only child!" I wonder whether the couple who should pay tribute are couples with an only child, or couples with an only child? The ambiguity also seems to be attributed to Gou Jian.

Only when the language is concise and the meaning is clear can it be satisfactory. Simplification is not advisable.