Not everyone is a fan of plain language. Really! Even though it’s all about helping your readers find what they need, understand what they find and use it to meet their needs. In today’s episode of links to interesting posts you might have missed, we take a closer look at lawyer-speak:
Lawyers are famous for using the polar opposite of plain language. Here’s a judge talking my language, railing against lawyerly paragraphs that were “long, confusing, redundant, and full of run-on sentences that mix[ed] factual allegations with editorial asides.”
Plain language can make the law more accessible, build trust in the justice system, and ensure that ordinary people can read a decision and understand whether they have won or lost. Via Conscious Style Guide.
Trimming a dense passage of legal writing from 78 words to 39 was “largely a function of substituting plain, direct words and phrases for the original’s bulkier versions.” Check out the before and after from WordRake.
And why is one word not good enough for law stuff? It’s always at least two: cease and desist, null and void, aid and abet, free and clear. Merriam-Webster says these are called “legal doublets,” and we can blame the Normans.
Look for and delete throat-clearing phrases in legal writing, like “It is important to note” and “in recent years.” Instead, Wordrake says, get to the point with a clear subject and a strong verb.
Here are more links related to plain language and the use of jargon:
Is the word “plain” the problem in people’s resistance to it? Yes, if people think “plain” means boring, overly simple or not professional or academic enough. It actually means clear, concise language. Editors Canada explains.
Great suggestions from Leslie O’Flahavan for how to handle plain language pushback from stubborn subject matter experts. One example: Use readability statistics to show the difficulty of the wordy draft.
Helpful ideas for how to steer scientists and other brainy sources away from jargon, via The Open Notebook. I do a lot of advance prep, don’t mind admitting when I don’t understand, and also ask, “How would you explain [concept] to your kids?”
How corporate jargon obscures the truth and fuels disaster, via Yale Insights. “You can only clarify the intentional opaqueness behind cliquish jargon by having the courage to ask the dumb-seeming question.”
You already knew this, but an official study shows workplace jargon hurts understanding and collaboration.
I especially like the advice to “Use words you would actually say out loud.” You will not catch me ‘leveraging’ any of these seven choice bits of corporate jargon.
Ha! I love the idea of using a buzzer to flag executive use of acronyms. Asking people to explain what they mean in plain, relatable terms works too.
What other helpful or interesting posts have you found online? Please share in the comments or drop me a note.
Stack of law books by David Whelan and Flickr.
Related reading:
More helpful tips for plain language
Links about plain language and jargon (and a few that made me laugh)
A primer on plain language in Wordnerdery