PlainLanguage.gov
It’s a little surreal stumbling across this site, but if ever there was an organization that needed to make an effort to speak in normal English, it’d be the US government: PlainLanguage.gov. (Academia could probably use it as well, come to think of it.)
Many definitions of plain language exist. Fundamentally, when we write in plain language, we present information in a way that makes it as easy as possible for people to understand. All definitions emphasize the importance of audience, clarity, and comprehension.
It’s depressing that this kind of thing would even need to be spelled out for government employees, but having had to puzzle through more than a few government documents in my time, I can’t say it’s a big surprise.
We’re all busy people. We don’t want to waste a lot of time “translating” difficult, wordy documents. Plain-language writing saves our offices time. If we save time, we save money. It’s good customer service and reduces the burden you place on the public.
Plain language means your readers can understand your documents more quickly. Readers won’t call you so much for explanations. They make fewer errors filling out your forms. They comply more accurately and quickly with requirements. If your customers don’t understand your documents, you may have to:
- Answer phone calls
- Write explanatory letters
- Write an explanatory document
- Litigate
Though no one knows the total cost of poor communication, the information we do have suggests it’s high. While writing in plain language isn’t easy, it pays off in positive results.
Despite the somewhat surreal nature of a site that has to argue that it’s beneficial to talk like a human being, there’s some neat stuff on the site, including a fun bit on How to Write Good:
- Always avoid alliteration.
- Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
- Avoid cliches like the plague–they’re old hat.
- Employ the vernacular.
- Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
- Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
- Parenthetical words however must be enclosed in commas.
- It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
- Contractions aren’t necessary.
- Do not use a foreign word when there is an adequate English quid pro quo.
(Source.)
A site worth checking out for anyone who communicates with the written word. And in the 21st century, that’s pretty much everyone in the Western world.
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