Little Plain Language Progress

[Grant Barrett]

A summary of progress in Al Gore's plain language crusade, from the San
Francisco Chronicle.

http://www.sfgate.com:80/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/
04/27/MN8454.DTL

"At worst, the effort seems quixotic; at best, it's a darn good idea,
according to just about everybody. (With exceptions such as most lawyers and
almost all accountants, who don't believe in the use of synonyms.) At
Gore's urging, President Clinton signed an executive memorandum last June that
requires federal bureaucrats to simplify written communications. By 2002,
all new and old federal documents, most penned by lawyers, are supposed
to be written in so-called plain language.

"But there is not much enforcement muscle behind the memo, except that
Gore likes it. "

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at americandialect.org