complex – complete – comprehensive


Common PL Usage*
1a) Complex Services   
2a) We provide complex building services across the industry.  
3a) We offer complex consulting services, including:     


Good EN Usage
1b) Comprehensive Services
2b) We can provide a complete range of building services…
3b) We offer a wide variety of consulting services, including:


OED Definition of ‘complex’
1c) (adj) Consisting of many different and connected parts.
2c) (adj) not easy to analyse or understand; complicated or intricate.    

           
What’s The Problem?
‘Complex' is very often mistaken for ‘complete’ or ‘comprehensive’. Compare example 2a above with the dictionary definition of ‘comprehensive’: “(adj) including or dealing with all or nearly all aspects of something”. Although this meaning bears a resemblance to the first definition of ‘complex’ (1c above), for English native speakers it's the second definition  (2c) that comes most of all to mind when reading the word – the one that is also synonymous with ‘complicated’! 


Thus, a sign on a truck saying Complex Transportation Services gives the impression that your parcels will be going on a very long journey by land, sea, air, car, truck, helicopter and possibly even space shuttle…

*This one is not unique to Polish though; I've also seen this in Korean, Russian and several other Slavic and Asiatic languages. 

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