Mincing words is overrated.
Bamboozling people with purple prose is overdone. Using weasel words is just plain rude.
The clouds have gathered in our lexicon and discourse, raining down misinformation and misconceptions.
Plain language is where it is at and that is where we should recalibrate to get it back in our crosshairs.
If you speak and no one picks up what you are putting down, confusion reigns.
Workplaces are peppered with it, with government organisations and bureaucracies the worst of all.
They undergo “strategical reductions in operational footprints”, which means they are cutting jobs.
They navigate “periods of unprecedented challenges”, when plain speakers would say they are failing.
They engage in “remediation strategies” instead of fixing a problem.
Their plans are not unpopular, there are just “diverse perspectives on the initiative”.
We need to bring back clean air and straight talking.
It is certainly not new.
In his insightful 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language”, George Orwell lamented the rise of mangled word usage and the tendency to change straightforward ideas into something that obscures rather than enlightens.
Politicians were the worst offenders, he said.
Towards the end of his piece, he writes: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.”
Ouch.
But plain language doesn’t do that: it simply offers clarity and connection, inclusiveness and meaning.
NSW’s education department recently mandated plain language in student report cards.
In the US, the federal government has just introduced an act requiring that its contract paperwork must be written in everyday language.
Our own government recently released a plain language fact sheet about its revised Aged Care Act, which is set to come into play on July 1.
Plain language includes opting for short words over long ones, using active instead of passive verbs, and avoiding jargon and acronyms only your inner circle will understand.
Call a spade a spade and impress people with your ability to find the right word, not the fanciest one.
As a favourite English teacher used to say, if you can’t explain it in plain English, you do not understand it well enough.
She was a George Orwell fan, too.
Dr Jane Stephens is a UniSC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer. The opinions expressed are those of the author. These are not the views of Sunshine Coast News publishers.
