Past newsletters 2003

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Plain English update 25 April 2003

We often find some useful information from the list of terms typed into the search facility on our website. For example, we can find out what topics people are interested in, or what they are looking for that we don't yet have on the site. But it now appears we have uncovered two pieces of jargon threatening to break into the language. We'll be keeping an eye out for the terms 'custofaction' and 'bratlash'.

We recently reported how consumer groups had complained about Heinz counting the tomato sauce in tinned spaghetti as one of the five recommended daily portions of fruit and vegetables. In a separate case, Heinz has agreed to suspend adverts for tomato soup until the Department of Health has clarified its rules for an official 'five a day logo'.

Following a complaint, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that 'to suggest that the advertised soup counted towards more than one portion of the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables exaggerated the contribution of the advertised product as part of a healthy, balanced diet'.

The ASA rejected two complaints that Heinz were advertising the soup as 'healthy' because of its sugar, fat and salt levels. The ASA said 'the advertisements referred to a healthy, balanced diet and... did not encourage excessive consumption of the advertised products.'

There are many books today explaining complicated subjects in plain English, but the idea is nothing new. We've come across the following from antique book dealers recently:

• 1713: Mr Collins' Discourse of Free-thinking, put into plain English, by way of Abstract, for the Use of the Poor. By a Friend of the Author (who was in fact Jonathan Swift)
• 1796: A Little Plain English by William Corbett (A book 'addressed to the People of the United States', putting the argument for the treaty with Great Britain)
• 1869: The House We Live In: How To Keep It In Order; or, The Experience of Seventy Years' Successful Practice of the Medical Profession, East and West, in Plain English for the People by Parker Sedgwick
• 1895: The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English or Medicine Simplified by Dr RV Pierce
• 1908: Popular Electricity in Plain English (a magazine)

Office workers often feel they don't get their fair share of praise from senior management. But that's not a problem for one man who forwarded an e-mail to us this week. He just isn't sure what the compliment means.

'I admire your focused attention to screening the quantum of remaining potentiality vs the generic strategic quantum of growth potentiality that we are now trying to seek access to.'

It's bad enough to send an unsolicited text message to the press officer of Plain English Campaign trying to scam him into phoning a premium rate telephone line to claim a mythical prize. But it's particularly cheeky to end the message 'aclx150pm'. This is presumably an attempt to meet the requirements to mention a £1.50 per minute call charge. We will be interested to discover whether the Advertising Standards Authority and the Office of Telecommunications consider 'txt msg tlk' to be an acceptable way to communicate legally-required notices.

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Plain English update 17 April 2003

A visitor to our site has asked us to help track down an old story.

'I remember reading somewhere about a local council trying to draw up a notice to regulate the admission of dogs (with their owners!) to the local park. Ambiguities and confusion abounded in the various attempted wordings for the notice. Can you locate the reference for me, please?'

We've not found any mention in our files, so if any of readers recognise the notice, please let us know and we'll pass the details on.

Perhaps the most famous baffling celebrity quote of recent years not to win our Foot in Mouth award came from footballer Eric Cantona in 1995. He claimed that 'when the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea'. Some observers thought he may have been talking about journalists trying to provoke him, but nobody was very sure.

This week, Mr Cantona replied to a question about his infamous quote.

'I was dreaming at night and wrote some words down', he said. 'It should have some meaning but I don't know what exactly.'

We've seen many examples of product names that are not so positive when they are translated for marketing abroad. But a new product from Swedish furniture firm Ikea has an unintentional meaning that may in fact be good for sales.

The 'Gutvik' child's bunk bed, named after a Swedish town, has just gone on sale in Germany. Unfortunately it sounds similar to a German slang expression. To put it delicately, it appears the bed would be more suitable for adults - and that using it in this way would be particularly enjoyable.

Ikea have now withdrawn newspaper adverts for the bed.

From the letters page in the Times this week:

'Sir

Fox's "Limited Edition" of Strawberries & Cream Crunch Creams states on the wrapper that the biscuits are filled with "cream-flavoured cream". There must surely be a fine distinction between this and plain cream.'

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Plain English update 11 April 2003

If the first three months of 2003 are anything to go by, we're moving in the right direction. Between January and March, 365 documents achieved our Crystal Mark standard, while we received 'just' 68 nominations for the Golden Bull awards.

That said, the 'quality' of the gobbledygook is as strong as ever. There are plenty of legalese-filled epic sentences, all the latest computing jargon and a wealth of writers trying to avoid the subject. But perhaps the strongest candidate so far is NASA's definition of 'consistent'. We won't say what it is yet as there is a good chance we'll be reading it out at the ceremony on 2 December.

It's also been a busy three months on our website. We've had visitors from 92 different countries. Between them, they have downloaded 32,751 copies of our guides. And we are rapidly approaching 3000 subscribers to our weekly newsletter.

Some grammatical errors are merely embarrassing. Others can have more amusing consequences.

A recent court order from Weymouth magistrates' court contained a mistaken double-negative. Instead of banning a man from drinking in public, it effectively said he was legally required to drink in public.

The order has now been retyped.

A researcher has asked us to help track down any people or organisations dealing with the language barrier between adults and teenagers or children. If any of you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know and we'll pass them on.

From the Daily Mail's 'One-line philosophers' column:

'Don't use a big word when a diminutive expression will suffice.' (Roy Harris, Cardiff)

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