Plain English in ten little words: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:30, 13 March 2021

By — passive tense. Write in the active, with energy, and in a way that clearly assigns and accepts responsibility
Of — nominalisation, adjectivisation
Shall — fusty old language
And/or — nervous laungage
verb — complicated sentence constructions (because the simple verb (give, do, be, make, have) is usually accompanied by a noun that could itself have been a verb
Without limitation — parentheticals that by definition do not add anything.
Leverage — jargon that is designed to make the writer look wise, and not the reader enlightened.
For the avoidance of doubt — writing that fails to avoid doubt in the first place.
Writing for a judge — question motivation for writing this way.
May — don’t confer entitlements that the parties had in any case. Don’t say a thing more than is necessary. Don’t overcommunicate. Less is more.

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+*[[By]] — [[passive]] tense. Write in the active, with energy, and in a way that clearly assigns and accepts responsibility
-*[[Of]]
+*[[Of]] — nominalisation, adjectivisation
-*[[Shall]]
+*[[Shall]] — fusty old language
-*[[And/or]]
+*[[And/or]] — nervous laungage
-*[[Irregular verb]]
+*[[verb]] — complicated sentence constructions (because the simple verb (give, do, be, make, have) is usually accompanied by a noun that could itself have been a verb
-*[[Without limitation]]
+*[[Without limitation]] — parentheticals that by definition do not add anything.
-*[[Leverage]]
+*[[Leverage]] — jargon that is designed to make the writer look wise, and not the reader enlightened.
-*[[For the avoidance of doubt]]
+*[[For the avoidance of doubt]] — writing that fails to avoid doubt in the first place.
-*[[Writing for a judge]]
+*[[Writing for a judge]] — question motivation for writing this way.
+*[[May]] — don’t confer entitlements that the parties had in any case. Don’t say a thing more than is necessary. Don’t overcommunicate. ''Less is more''.