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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

In praise of gobbledygook - Information Mapping® Blog

Our recent blog entries about plain language have featured attacks on confusing, wordy and convoluted writing. In the interests of fairness, we’ve decided to give the opposing point of view equal time. Here’s the first of three reasons why our government as well as American businesses should continue to use gobbledygook in their communications with the public.
So begins this tongue-in-cheek article. It makes its ironic point well. Some excerpts:
Businesses blame the regulators for the small print and mindboggling language. ...

Well, maybe. But we’re not convinced that businesses are really upset about this situation, because it’s making them money. ... One study found that fewer than one in ten thousand consumers actually read this stuff.
The resulting costs to the average American household can be as high as three thousand dollars per year, mostly in the form of unjustified fees and charges. ... Clearly, for some businesses gobbledygook is a profit center. ...
For more information on the value of writing in plain language -- and doing it, check out Garbl's Plain English Writing Guide.

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