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Streamline sentences to translate terms; a ‘Before & After’ in Wordnerdery

Streamline sentences to translate terms; a ‘Before & After’ in Wordnerdery

by Sue Horner | Jan 25, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

This may be a new year, but it’s the same old, same old when it comes to wordy, baffling language. And you’ll find lots of that in any company’s Terms of Use. Terms of Use should be easy to read, don’t you think? And making them easy is just...
4 steps to simplify contract language (Wordnerdery)

4 steps to simplify contract language (Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | Nov 23, 2022 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

In the old days, a handshake was your contract. Today, the hands involved belong to lawyers, and they are all over the simplest of contracts. Unfortunately, as Ohio Judge Mark P. Painter says, “Most legal writing is atrocious.” Forget short, crisp sentences. One...
Before & after: Be clear if you want public  comment (Wordnerdery)

Before & after: Be clear if you want public comment (Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | Jan 20, 2022 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

At 100+ decibels, the sound of a large jet nearing a runway’s end is as noisy as being in the front row of a rock concert. (Remember those?) While the pandemic slashed the number of planes landing at and taking off from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport,...
Before & after: 5K run release (Wordnerdery)

Before & after: 5K run release (Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | May 20, 2021 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

I’m taking part in a fundraising 5K event this summer called Push for Your Tush. As usual with such events, I had to sign a release – actually a “RELEASE, WAIVER and INDEMNITY AGREEMENT,” in all caps every time it is mentioned – for the organizer, Colorectal Cancer...
Before & after: More terms and conditions that confuse

Before & after: More terms and conditions that confuse

by Sue Horner | Feb 4, 2021 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

The people behind the Air Canada Aeroplan rewards plan want to make sure members keep their information secure and up-to-date. I recently found this out because I was looking into turning some of my rewards points into gifts. It’s been a while since I poked around to...
Before & after: Promote your program with plain language

Before & after: Promote your program with plain language

by Sue Horner | Oct 14, 2020 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Plain language can save lives or make them harder, as the Center for Plain Language noted on Twitter this week. The occasion: International Plain Language Day (Oct. 13). We were disappointed with many of the results of the Federal Plain Language Report Card this year....
Before & after: Office 365 gets a name change

Before & after: Office 365 gets a name change

by Sue Horner | Sep 2, 2020 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Remember the old days, when you used to buy software and run it until it would randomly crash and other things started to go wrong? Then you’d upgrade, spend hours getting things working again, and then run it until the danger zone again because it was such a hassle?...
Before & after: Google terms of service (Wordnerdery)

Before & after: Google terms of service (Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | Nov 26, 2019 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Oh, my poor eyes and brain. When I logged into my analytics last week, Google asked me to agree to new “Google Measurement Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms.” Like you, probably, I usually just click on “agree.” This time, I copied, saved and read the terms....
Before & after: Wordy article gets a rewrite

Before & after: Wordy article gets a rewrite

by Sue Horner | Jun 28, 2019 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

One way to help people understood something is get to the point. Don’t bury your information in too much detail, ramble, or hide the action with passive language. While falling down the rabbit hole of internet links one day, I happened upon an article from 2015 that...
Before & after: Use plain language to be clear

Before & after: Use plain language to be clear

by Sue Horner | Oct 11, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Let’s be clear. Those “Terms and Conditions” we have to “accept” or “agree to” before using new software, phones and other technology are anything but clear. I blame lawyers, who stuff sentences with words to cover every possible situation. The sentences are wordy and...
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