...........................
Feds must stop writing gibberish under new law
The federal government is rolling out a new official language of sorts: plain English.
That's right: Pursuant to regulations promulgated thereunder and commencing in accordance with a statute signed herein by President Barack Obama, the government shall be precluded from writing the pompous gibberish heretofore evidenced, to the extent practicable.
That sentence contains 11 new language no-nos.
Obama signed the Plain Writing Act last fall after decades of effort by a cadre of passionate grammarians in the civil service to jettison the jargon.
It takes full effect in October, when federal agencies must start writing plainly in all new or substantially revised documents produced for the public. The government will still be allowed to write nonsensically to itself.
[snipped]
By July, each agency must have a senior official overseeing plain writing, a section of its website devoted to the effort and employee training under way.
[snipped]
But can clarity and good grammar be legislated?
That remains to be seen. The law lacks teeth. You won't be able to sue the government for making your head spin after October. And regulations are exempted.
[snipped]
Online:
Federal plain language guidelines
Center for Plain Language
...........................
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment