Date: 3/4/2009
Author: Karen Fewell
A big part of my job is getting across a message in an interesting way that is easy for readers to understand. So gobbledygook is something that must be avoided! But what is gobbledygook? To help me explain I went on to www.plainenglish.co.uk and used their Gobbledygook Generator. Below you can see a few examples of what it brought up.
“At base level, this just comes down to interactive monitored consulting.”
“The consultants recommend regenerated logistical options.”
“The solution can only be global relative processing.”
Are you able to understand these phrases? If so you are much more intelligent than me but copy like this still exists in many organisations. Just look at some examples of things you read over the next week. Is the copy easy to understand? Could it be made any clearer? I’d love to see any examples you found.
I’m a great believer in the Plain English Campaign, which aims to ensure everyone has access to clear and concise information. At InDzine we can either arrange for copy to be written for you or review copy you have written to make sure it is written in a style that can be understood.
Karen
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