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Plain language Here you will the find the following short items:
Cornerstone's Law of Euphemism "Any euphemism will always pick up the negative connotations of the word it replaces." Need an example? A KPMG ad looks for someone "who sees opportunity where others see challenges." Not long ago, that would have read, "who sees challenges where others see problems." Frankly, we'd rather hire someone who solves our problems. Let them have fun with challenges on their own time. Plain language sinks in down south By October 1 1998, all new federal documents in the United States had to
have been written in plain language. Common words, personal pronouns, short sentences and the active voice are part of a package that, as President Clinton says, "saves the government and the private sector time,
effort and money." The same rules applied to regulations as of January 1, 1999. Needless to say, we agree wholeheartedly that plain language works! In fact, while some people doubt the value of plain language,
now there is mounting evidence from south of the border that it makes a real bottom-line difference. ·At the Veterans Benefits Administration, staff found that plain-language correspondence cut down the number of
complaint letters and increased the number of thank-you letters. ·Several corporations, including Shell Oil, Pfizer, Bank of America and General Motors, have found that plain language reduces paperwork, increases
customer satisfaction, increases sales and raises their standing in the marketplace. ·A U.S. Navy study found that writing memos in plain language can save between $250 million and $350 million a year, because clear
writing reduces confusion, errors and complaints. The buzzword baby patch
Ever wonder where the latest fashionable business buzzwords come from? Here's what the Los Angeles Times found out, with a little help from Merriam-Webster.
Plain-language investing In the United States, new rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission require that certain disclosure documents for shareholders be written in plain English. So instead of "The inverse floating rate equity swap straddles in which the Fund invests have a Beta rating of 2.53 and greater and a higher-than-normal Treynor ratio," the text might read, "The Fund invests in derivative instruments, which can result in price volatility." Politically correct terminology Read this comment from Jim Sanders, the vice-president of the Canadian
National Institute for the Blind, regarding the June federal election: "Speaking as a disabled person, the Liberals have been very clear with their intentions. It gives me as a blind person certainly a lot of cause
to be optimistic." Sanders refers to himself as a blind person and as a disabled person, not as a "person with a visual impairment," nor as a "person with a disability." We've always argued
that "person with &ldots;" terms actually emphasize the disability by suggesting that it is so freakish that it cannot be treated like other descriptions. (You are unlikely to prefer "a woman with red
hair" to "a red-headed woman," for example.) It is nice to see that disabled people in official positions agree with us. The worst sentence in the world If you've ever agonized over how to make your writing more concise, you can take comfort in the fact that, even on
your worst days, you never get as bad as this. Johns Hopkins University Press has named a winner in its Bad Writing Contest, a sentence from Roy Bhaskar's Plato Etc.: The Problems of Philosophy and Their Resolution
. Here's how it starts: "Indeed dialectical critical realism may be seen under the aspect of Foucauldian strategic reversal -- of the unholy trinity of Parmenidean / Platonic / Aristotelean provenance; of the
Cartesian-Lockean-Humean-Kantian paradigm, of foundationalisms (in practice, fideistic foundationalisms) and irrationalisms (in practice, capricious exercises of will-to-power or some other ideologically and/or
psycho-somatically buried source) new and old alike; of the primordial failing of western philosophy, ontological monovalence, and its close ally, the epistemic fallacy with its ontic dual..." and so on, for
another 59 increasingly incomprehensible words. Medical plain language . . . the game A new game is helping health professionals learn to say sneezing instead of sternutation. Called Plain Word, the game overcomes literacy barriers and helps patients better understand their treatment. Copies cost $34.95 plus tax, and are available from the Canadian Public Health Association at (613) 725-3769.
Cornerstone is a writing and editing firm that uses marketing and PR principles to create "words you can build your business on."
Call us from anywhere in the world for rush work.
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