Why People Use Unplain Language

People write unplainly for all kinds of reasons. Some common ones are:

They are used to unplain language.

Many people use unplain language because they are used to it. They do not always think about what they are doing. Often they have learned at school that it is clever to use long words and sentences. Or sometimes they forget that when they started their job, they did not understand the language either.

They want to fit in at work.

Some people use unplain language because other people do, to fit in at work.

They do not like plain language.

Some people worry that others will think they do not know how to use long words. Or they think that unplain language sounds nicer. But studies show that this is not true. Readers think that lawyers who use plain English are better. And most scientists think that other scientists who write in plain language are better at their job.

Other people think that you cannot talk about hard ideas in plain language. Yet writers can put hard ideas into plain language. They can even make laws easy to understand.

Other people worry that if they write in plain language, it will sound as if they talk down to the readers. But research shows that readers prefer plain language.

They do not care, are lazy, or want to show off or hide something.

When you get something in unplain language, it is easy to think that the person:

	Does not care
	Does not want to spend time to find plain ways to write something
	Wants to show off
	Wants to hide something that is not clear or not true in long words.

That may be true. But try not to think the worst of people who use unplain language. The chances are that they do not mean any harm.

You should tell people who use unplain language that you cannot understand them. You can get tips on how to do this from When you get something you can't read or understand ... (PDF, 93KB). Tell them that you like plain language. The more people use plain language, the more people will think plain language is good -- and unplain language will go away! (Download free Adobe Reader for viewing PDF file.)

Questions or comments? Contact Sarah Carr at sarahcarr@btconnect.com, Janet Pringle at owlwords@telus.net or Bertie Mo at bertiemo@yahoo.com.

Introduction | Tips (PDF) | Samples | Why

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