Friday fun with translating economic jargon

Bydr.kim

yellenIf your brain isn’t too tired yet, check out this quiz from the Washington Examiner and do your best to translate statements from the current and former Federal Reserve Chair(wo)man into plain language.  Somehow I got 5 out of 5.  It was sheer luck!

If this jargon was used only with other economists, it would be forgivable. But these are remarks aimed at Congress or the press. I think that’s supposed to mean a U.S. citizen should understand it.

Thanks to the folks at Write in NZ for pointing me to the quiz. Happy weekend to both Southern and Northern Hemispheres!

Similar Posts
Bydr.kim

I recommend Gavin’s post about pie charts — especially for his “makeover”! Related articles I give up, I am embracing pie charts (simplystatistics.org)

Learn to analyze a workplace audience to deliver an effective message
|

Learn to analyze a workplace audience to deliver an effective message

Bydr.kim

Know your audience. This would count as a platitude for good writing without some specifics. So this post provides a specific system for analyzing a workplace audience. That system requires writers to assess two aspects of their situation–the context of their message:  (1) their relationship with the audience and (2) their audience’s readiness to accept the message. An…

Think long-term and be kind to readers with well-formatted documents
| |

Think long-term and be kind to readers with well-formatted documents

Bydr.kim

It’s something of a paradox. But the space you leave blank in your documents matters.  Compare these two forms discussed in an article about the importance of white space by the Nielsen Norman Group. (They help clients make users of their websites, applications, and products happier.) As the article says, The recreated Walgreens.com registration form (right) is…

Cut your email into three chunks for better digestion
| |

Cut your email into three chunks for better digestion

Bydr.kim

Travis, a former student who now works as an IT consultant, asked for a summary of what we taught him about developing and organizing content in emails ’cause he wants to share it with his project leaders. (Seems they had asked him how he knew what the majority of new grads don’t.)  Although I’ve written…

A caveat about active voice and conciseness

A caveat about active voice and conciseness

Bydr.kim

Thanks to Tracy Allison Altman over at Evidence Soup, I just read Does the Language Fit the Evidence by Mark Zweig, MD, and Emily DeVoto, PhD. The authors are concerned about the translation of medical research into popular media stories. Here’s why: A subtle trap occurs in the transition from the cautious, nondirectional, noncausal, passive language…

Leave a Reply