Three’s Company was an extremely successful sitcom that ran for seven years from the late 70’s into the early 80’s catapulting John Ritter, Suzanne Summers, and Joyce DeWitt among others to super stardom. One of its signature story techniques was to have one of the trio overhear one of the others saying something via eavesdropping behind a couch or doorway. This would lead to the listener taking the speaker’s message out of context, often due to the use of pronouns, resulting in hilarious misunderstandings and confusion. This premise would then lead to a “comedy of errors” until the cast finally recognized the misunderstanding and all returned to normal.
As simple as this formula was, it was magical for years. The phrase “It’s funny because it’s true” applies here, as this same mishap occurs nearly every day via email or in-person conversations. I’ve become so sensitive to it, I tend to call out misuse of pronouns nearly on the spot, and I more and more regularly encourage myself and others to refrain from using them at all in conversation.
Here’s an example: You and I are discussing something on a whiteboard with a colleague – two versions of the same screen on a mobile app (I develop software). I say, “so this is the first version and this is the second.” I may even point and all is well. Yet one minute later, I say “this is currently in the build”. To which, you say, “no, that’s not in the build. I just ran that app yesterday, and I did not see it.” Now suddenly it is clear to me that I’m talking about one version of the screen and you are talking about a different version. Or it is not clear, and you and I go on for a couple more minutes before we realize we are not talking about the same version of the screen. We’re now slightly frustrated with each other as we move on, and the rest of the stakeholders in the room are struggling to keep up to.
Here’s a more obvious example: “My boss told Sam, that he’d better get over to Ann’s office before she left for the day, or he’d miss her before she leaves. He looked at his watch and hurried out the door.” In that sentence, who had better get to Ann? The boss or Sam? No one will ever know, but we all made a guess in our minds. Pronouns used in a detailed email can cause lots of confusion. “I think this support ticket is the one we should delete, because it’s a duplicate.” That’s effectively what was stated in a recent, very long email that had not two tickets, but six tickets. I was admittedly confused and offered up a hyperlink to the one I thought was the correct ticket. I got a reply that I was wrong and I got a link to the right ticket.
Pronouns make it too easy to confuse the subjects we are discussing, but it is also easy to clear (and ideally avoid) the confusion. Next time you find yourself writing an email, conversing over Skype, or face to face, listen or reread for the pronouns, and then replace every one you can with the item to which you are referring. You will do everyone an even better favor when you replace pronouns with the real object in all your daily communications. On the surface, “pronoun confusion” seems simple, but keep an eye open. You’ll be surprised at how often the “Three’s Company Effect” happens. You will then start to save yourself, friends, and colleagues lots of confusion from your own “comedy of errors”.