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When 5 lions escaped their exhibit last month, the zoo released a statement blaming an 'integrity issue' for the breach. This was just one example of spin that caught our eye in this year's round-up of the worst public language.
So you want to writing in plain English, but you're not sure where to start? One of the most effective things you can do is replace complex words and phrases with a simpler, shorter alternative.
Our expert trainers and editors share their top tips to help you communicate clearly in all your writing.
Our editors have brought their plain language skills to many fascinating and influential projects. Here we share links to a handful that are available online, so you can see how we have transformed content across a range of genres and sectors.
We're thrilled to hear that New Zealand passed the plain language bill today. One MP said the bill is about 'having language that everyone and anyone can understand.' We couldn't agree more.
We worked with MusicNSW to create a plain English summary of the Raising Their Voices report. It presents important new research into sexism and discrimination in Australia's music industry and makes the case for some big, bold changes!
2021 was another year dominated by COVID-19, and it generated a whole new list of words we didn't know we needed, including ‘centres for national resilience’.
The Financial Services Council commissioned us to overhaul the Life Insurance Code of Practice. We created a new plain English document with big improvements in readability, usability and accessibility.
2020 was the year of COVID-19, and it generated some less than welcome words. The South Australia Government eased some coronavirus restrictions and allowed people in bars to drink while standing up… But then they dubbed this ‘vertical consumption‘.
We've taken a look back at the annual Worst Words winners from 2010-2020 to select the Worst Words of the Decade, and there was a clear winner.
As the moves toward cleaner energy gained momentum in 2019, the US Department of Energy decided to ramp up the spin. It rebranded natural gas as ‘freedom gas' and trumpeted its efforts to help export ‘molecules of US freedom' to the world.
2018 was a particularly poor year for corporate doublespeak and spin. When our national public broadcaster used the phrase 'external career development opportunities' to discuss firing its staff, it joined a long list of institutions incapable of using simple English to describe something difficult.
Political doublespeak dominated our 2017 list as things became seriously Orwellian in the US. At the top of the heap was the worrying ‘alternative facts', suggesting that politicians can be right even when they're wrong.
Noxious Frankenword 'Brangelexit' topped our 2016 list. Combining Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's celebrity moniker 'Brangelina' with the recent 'Brexit' vote, this elevates a celebrity divorce to the level of a major world event.
In a particularly bad year for corporate spin doctoring, 'possible emissions non-compliance' topped our 2015 list. Volkswagen’s CEO used this phrase to describe what was actually cheating when regulators tested how much pollution its cars emit.
'Conscious uncoupling' was our 2014 winner. Gwyneth Paltrow used this phrase to describe her separation from husband Chris Martin.
In 2013, HSBC got our vote when it announced it would be 'demising the roles of 942 relationship managers'. This meant that nearly 1000 employees were losing their jobs.
When KFC chose 'goodification' as the slogan for its marketing campaign, we had to choose it as our Worst Word of the Year, along with its cringe-worthy cousins - 'gooderer', 'goodest' and 'goodify'.
2011 was a banner year for corporate evasion and euphemistic spin, with 'fugitive emissions' (more commonly known as pollution) topping our list.
2010 was filled with Manglish and gobbledygook, but we couldn't get past 'moving forward'. Julia Gillard repeated this slogan more than 20 times when she announced the federal election.
