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Article: Time for a plain-language revolution
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 30, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Washington Post. This material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Sometimes Uncle Sam sounds like he has marbles in his mouth.
Read, if you can, the accompanying excerpt from an Education
Department regulation, which was printed in Wednesday's Federal
Register. This one sentence has more than 220 words, nearly the
equivalent of a typed page, double-spaced. It's typical of
impenetrable fedspeak that produces more indigestion than
information.
But help is on the way for federal employees who want to break
from the tradition of writing so that nobody understands what
they're trying to say.
At the National Press Club on Friday afternoon, the Center for
Plain Language will hold a symposium to encourage the use of plain
language.
"Now, there is a real ...