Grammar nazis are alive and well
This Embarrasses You and I*
One of my Bama colleagues sent me this link to a recent Wall Street Journal piece on grammar in the workplace. It’s generated 671 comments as I write this. Whew!
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Plain language requires attention to the process
The first three parts of my series on defining plain language focused on the three aspects of the rhetorical triangle: (1) textual elements like style and organization, (2) reader outcomes like comprehension and usability, and (3) writer outcomes like organizational costs and benefits. To overcome the limitations of any one of those aspects when considered alone,…
Plain language requires attention to the writer’s organization
[This post should have appeared on October 13 to acknowledge International Plain Language Day. More important, it should have appeared AFTER parts one and two.] In the first two posts defining what I mean by “plain language,” I have focused on two points of the rhetorical triangle: textual elements like style and organization (Part One) and reader outcomes…
When writing for public consumption, if you follow standard usage (e.g. “for you and me”) and punctuation (e.g. “those buildings’ windows), you’ll always be safe. If you deviate (e.g. “for you and I” or “those building’s windows”), you run the risk of being perceived an illiterate.
A prudent person doesn’t jeopardize his or her future.