by Sue Horner | Jun 23, 2025 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Not to pick on lawyers or anything, but I found a letter to shareholders that’s clearly written by a committee of legal beagles. With an opening that crammed 120 words into one sentence, it cried out for the “Before & After” treatment....
by Sue Horner | Jun 11, 2025 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
While there are certainly fewer people on X these days (thanks, Elon!), there’s no shortage of “noise” on social media. So in case you missed them, here are some interesting posts I’ve run across, related to plain language, jargon and explaining the complex. Bonus:...
by Sue Horner | Oct 21, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
While you’re prepping for incoming cold weather by consuming pumpkin spice everything, the U.S. National Weather Service is talking about plain language, of all things. It seems people don’t necessarily pay attention to warnings about cold weather. Or maybe they don’t...
by Sue Horner | May 22, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The easier we make it to read what we write, the more people actually will read it. Even more important, they’ll understand and remember it. That’s a key part of plain language: Helping readers find what they need; understand what they find; and use what they find to...
by Sue Horner | Feb 15, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Have you ever noticed that suddenly everyone seems to be using a particular word or phrase? “Upskilling” is having a moment, unfortunately. “Overarching” has staying power, also unfortunately. But the one I keep running into lately is “[people]...
by Sue Horner | Feb 2, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I’m always on the lookout for examples of good and bad writing, and you’ll find plenty out in the world. Here are some of the articles recently shared online, all related to plain language and getting rid of jargon and lawyer-speak. Plain language is all about helping...
by Sue Horner | Oct 23, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Way back when the world was still coming to grips with the pandemic, helping people understand information took on new urgency. Where could we find the latest news? How could we stay safe? And how far apart was six feet anyway? You could argue that today’s state of...
by Sue Horner | Apr 25, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Just four minutes into its launch on April 20, Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship engine “experienced rapid unscheduled disassembly.” Not sure what that means? The engine blew up. Actually, SpaceX said they “commanded” a “flight termination system” to intentionally blow it...
by Sue Horner | Sep 19, 2022 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
You may or may not be on social media. Almost certainly, you aren’t seeing every interesting link that flashes past. So here are more links to helpful posts I’ve shared that you might have missed: Word choice “Don’t be mealy-mouthed about mortality,” says John...
by Sue Horner | Mar 19, 2022 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The mysterious case of PXO began with a pile of traffic cones at two nearby parks. A few weeks later, signs arrived, announcing a “PXO Program.” It was a term I’d never heard, and the name of the contractor involved (Aqua Tech Solution Inc.) suggested water might be...
