11 Comments

• dizzy 7th Aug '07 - 1:36pm

  Unfortunately, as someone in the comments has pointed out, they may not have done a good job of it.

• Barry Scott 7th Aug '07 - 1:53pm

  This is an excellent idea. Anything that helps to make Council documents and webpages more accessible to the public can only be a good thing.

  It’s very good to see SMBC thinking outside the box and going forward with this idea. 😉

• nigelashton 7th Aug '07 - 3:08pm

  Nice to see a Lib Dem council pushing the envelope on this one 🙂

• Biscit (Simon Jerram) 7th Aug '07 - 3:45pm

  I’d say only the last item is an example of jargon- the rest are just management buzz-pharases.

  Jagon is technical language for which there is a readily available plain english alternative. (Technical concepts that are more than a couple of words in everyday English are neither Jargon, nor buzzspeak).

  Buzzwords are filler phrases that mean little and add nothing to the text. Unlike jargon, they do not render passages incomprehensible to most people, but they do make the writer look unimaginative, sheep like and foolish.

  The barriers caused by buzzwords are purely in terms of psychology and paletability.

• Biscit (Simon Jerram) 7th Aug '07 - 4:14pm

  …but I rush to add, eliminating buzzwords is still a good thing.

• Mark Pack 7th Aug '07 - 4:15pm

  I’m all for resizing the vocabulary envelope.

• James Graham 7th Aug '07 - 4:42pm

  Mark #6: shurely downsizing?

  I’ve also blogged about this by the way.

• dizzy 7th Aug '07 - 5:13pm

  Who would have guess that such a post would produced a matrix-in response of milestone comments each acting as an enabler to the next huh?

• liblablog 8th Aug '07 - 12:33am

  Lib Dem Councillor in Southwark refuses to resign after drink driving conviction incurredd drunkenly from Council function. She is a Cabinet member. Council leader has backed her, but should she resign from the Council or from the Cabinet ?

  http://icsouthlondon.icnetwork.co.uk/southlondonpress/southwark/tm_headline=ex-mayoress-banned-for-drink-driving%26method=full%26objectid=19555819%26siteid=50100-name_page.html

• Angus Huck 8th Aug '07 - 1:06am

  Most of these clichéd phrases are managementese, originate in the US (where else?), and I recoil instantly when I encounter them.

  The point about jargon having precise technical meaning is well made.

  To the layman, a “common mistake” is a mistake made frequently. To a lawyer, it is a mistake made by both parties to a contract.

  Used incorrectly, legal jargon can be a menace.

  The worst abuses of language are those inspired by ideology.

  Like the use of “faith” when “religion” is meant – “faith” carrying the unspoken suggestion that adherence to religion is something virtuous and requiring to be shown “respect”.

  One that really does infuriate me is the placing of “lesbians” before “gay men”, the assumption being that men are inherently wicked and should only be tolerated if they refrain from having sex with women. This dates from the days when the lunatic fringe of feminism was indulged by the left, and many gay rights activists were foolhardy enough to find common cause with it.

  Oh, and I cannot resist mention of Comrade Enver Hoxha, one of the worst abusers of language ever to live. Here is his list of the enemies of socialist Albania: “The American imperialists, the Soviet and Chinese social imperialists, Titoite, Euro-Communist and other modern revisionists, the international capitalist bourgeoisie and reaction.”

• James Graham 8th Aug '07 - 1:44pm

  #9: D&D is perfectly legitimate behaviour in Southwark. After all, it has been sanctioned by the Church of England.

  I could say it is an ecumenical matter, but I won’t.