Brasilia Governor Bans Verb Form, Citing Inefficiency
Brazil’s Federal District Governor Jose Roberto Arruda “fired” the present participle from his administration, citing inefficiency.
“The present participle is hereby fired from all federal district entities,” the governor wrote in a decree posted on the government’s Web site last night. “As of today, it is forbidden as an excuse for INEFFICIENCY.”
Banning the verb form, which ends in “ndo” in Portuguese (“ing” in English), was done to prevent government officials from using continuous tenses to obscure progress — or the lack of it.
