Friday, December 29, 2017

Resource: PlainLanguage.gov

Did you know the U.S. government has a website dedicated to the use of plain language? It's called PlainLanguage.gov, "improving communication from the federal government to the public." It even has ... brace yourselves! ... a humor section. Yes, humor - from the government! Here's one of my favorite items on the humor page:

Nine Easy Steps to Longer Sentences by Kathy McGinty

Read this delightful bit of satire to find out exactly how, step by step, you can get from this:
More night jobs would keep youths off the streets.
to this:
There is no escaping the fact that it is considered very important to note that a number of various available applicable studies studies ipso facto have generally identified the fact that additional appropriate nocturnal employment could usually keep juvenile adolescents off thoroughfares during the night hours, including but not limited to the time prior to midnight on weeknights and/or 2 a.m. on weekends.
For more information about the goals of PlainLanguage.gov and the strategies that they recommend, see their Why Use Plain Language? poster (full size PDF here):