Second-language English speakers should always be seen as your target audience for any professional communication. Most English speakers alive today do not spea

Second-language English speakers should always be seen as your target audience for any professional communication. Most English speakers alive today do not speak English as their first language. Also, many who speak English as a first language are not experts in English either. Metaphor, idiom and wordplay are great, interesting and they have their uses, mainly in social contexts and for identifying yourself as a member of a group. But they do little but confuse and isolate readers or listeners who aren't part of your cultural or linguistic group. Most of what I write professionally is devoid of complex words and almost every literary technique in order to be as accessible as possible (Hacker News doesn't count, I'm being myself in this forum). As for American English not having metaphors, do you not notice all of the sporting metaphors frequently used by almost every stereotypical American manager? Out of the the ball park, centre field, hit a home run, loaded bases, the bullpen, etc. I'm Australian so I spent a month watching American sports to grasp what some managers were on about in conference calls.