Plain English in ten little words: Difference between revisions

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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''.

Revision as of 13:30, 13 March 2021

  • Bypassive 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.