Vote in the People’s Choice Award for best plain English summary of a science paper
What a terrific initiative!
What a terrific initiative!
Thanks to the folks at Bridging the Unbridgeable, I learned that the CIA style manual is now publicly available. As the Director of Intelligence wrote in the foreward to the 8th edition, The information the CIA gathers and the analysis it produces mean little if we cannot convey them effectively. I’ve included the manual here so you can investigate for yourself. The…
In this episode of Mysteries of the Vernacular on TED-Ed, Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel try to trace the history of “keister.” Happy Friday!
If I need a lawyer, I’m gonna call up Mr. Kaplitt. Here’s a letter he wrote for a client who received a “cease and desist” letter written in indecipherable legalese. Huffington Post posted a short video about this one. Or read his letter for yourself. Bet Mr. Kaplitt’s phone has been ringing off the hook! Related…
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!
Got that frivolous Friday feeling? I have exams to grade so, naturally, I was looking for a diversion this morning and thought I’d share three of my attempts. Diversion 1: Identify the pun performed by today’s photo from doozzle. Diversion 2: Check out the pronunciation humor in this Berlitz ad. Diversion 3: Watch the short video on…
Just taking a second to vent my frustration about the lack of plain language on the ballot I read this morning. Here’s a sample. As someone with an earned doctorate in English linguistics and writing, I would place myself near the top of any chart displaying literacy skills among US citizens. But I had no…
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