Hail Plain Language
April 17th, 2008Am a couple of days late on blogging about this - House passes bill requiring plain language in federal documents.
I love plain language. I am a writer first and then a technical writer. And I still love reading Wodehouse. Have attempted reading Joyce. Love what Ghalib does to Urdu. And occasionally, mischieviously indulge in writing cryptic prose or poetry with words obviously borrowed from Wordweb and forgotten as soon as they are used.
And, I think keeping it simple, stupid! (KISS) Is far more difficult.
But the act will make life simple for my fellowfolks in US. I wonder if we can get such a law to be passed in India. Whenever I read official papers, my mind feels like it is in a virtual giant wheel. A few years back, I needed to make a lease agreement. I downloaded one from the net, after reading it, I almost decided to not give my house out on lease. Then courageously, I took up the challenge and rewrote the entire document in simple English. My mom scared me by saying, they may not accept it. Thankfully no one noticed that they could understand what was written.
Here’s a little bit about Plain language and here’s the Plain Language Act.
Ok, now all of you say - Hail Plain Language - this is a much better dictator.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:19 am
For me the debate is always between the ease of access and utilizing the resources of the language to the fullest. Plain language is key, but there are times when you just have to use the resonances of a particular word. I think there should be a balance in the sense of being aware of the number of particularly unfamiliar words you are using. I may be wrong, but I suspect people actually don’t mind reading a new word or two every two thousand words, especially a word that makes its meaning obvious by its context.