I find myself pausing a moment for reflection. This is number 30 of “Calling All Verbivores.” It is a bit difficult to realize that I’ve been doing this for several years. The time has flown by, and I find that I haven’t managed to cover lots of topics that I thought I would like to. I proposed this column to Maggie Prince when she was editor of Between the Lines. My motivation included both my own fascination with words and language and a desire to share with the readers of BTL some of the insight, provocation, enlightenment, and just plain fun to be gained from such fascination. I hope that my aim has been achieved to some extent, but even if it has not, my enjoyment in this task has been sufficient to keep me doing it as long as I can and as long as the column is welcomed by an editor.

A reference to the announcement of its 2004 list of most irritating phrases in the English language sent me immediately to the press release of the Plain English Campaign (http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/pressrelease.html). The winner of their survey of 5000 supporters in 70 countries was (insert fanfares, drum rolls, and flashing lights here) “at the end of the day.” This year’s survey was part of a build-up to the 25th anniversary of the organization, July 26, 2004.

There was a tie for second place in the survey—“at this moment in time” and “like” when used as if it were a form of punctuation. Fourth place went to “with all due respect.” Thirty-three additional phrases received multiple votes. Among those are several that I would certainly include in my personal list—“bear with me;” “ballpark figure;” “blue sky (thinking);” “awesome;” “boggles the mind;” “going forward;” “I hear what you’re saying;” “It’s not rocket science;” “literally (especially when precisely the opposite is meant);” “pushing the envelope;” “the fact of the matter is;” “thinking outside the box;” “to be honest (and variants).” You can go to the URL above to see how your own list compares with that of the Plain English Campaign.

Spokesman John Lister pointed out that over-used phrases are a barrier to communication.

When readers or listeners come across these tired expressions, they start tuning out and completely miss the message-assuming there is one! Using these terms in daily business is about [as] professional as wearing a novelty tie or having a wacky ringtone on your phone.
(Ibid.)

Chrissie Maher, founder of Plain English Campaign (PEC), grew up in post-war England with very little formal education. She learned to read in her mid-teens. Heavily involved in community work during the 1960s, she found herself spending a lot of time helping poor people complete the forms required for eligibility for financial assistance from the British government. She launched PEC in response to the death of an elderly woman who had been unable to fill out the forms for an extra heating allowance. In protest, she shredded hundreds of government forms in Parliament Square, London. “After being read the entire Riot Act by a passing policeman, Chrissie asked, ‘does all that gobbledygook mean we have to go?’” (http://www.write.co.nz/plainenglish/)


The British government responded. In 1981, with the Campaign’s help, a government review and rewrite of 58,000 forms made immediate savings of £15 million. (Ibid.)

Subsequent accomplishments of the PEC include the following:

  1. The Plain English Campaign has saved the British Government an estimated £500 million in the last 20 years.
  2. With the Campaign's help, British Aerospace redrafted a 150-page international leasing agreement in just 50 pages. Because it was written in plain English, a £120 million deal took just three and a half weeks to complete, instead of the previous average of six months.
  3. Thanks to the Plain English Campaign lobbying in Europe, it is now impossible to enforce consumer contracts that are not in 'plain, intelligible language'.

(Ibid.)

A fuller account of Chrissie Maher and the Plain English Campaign is available on the Campaign’s website (http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/). The story is inspiring, both in Chrissie Maher’s activism and in its affirmation of the importance of words and their clear, helpful use.

Here are the answers to Will Shortz’s puzzles from last month’s column.
First, for the seven short ones,
(1) propound, program, proton (2) yacht, (3) plaid, (4) queue (q), (5) twelfth, (6) barnacle, manacle, pinnacle, tabernacle, (7) It was one volume of an encyclopedia.
For “PAST TIME,”
(1) loaded, (2) canned, (3) darned, (4) checked, (5) worsted, (6) belted,
(7) flushed, (8) pitched

Until next time, send me your solutions (or suggestions or complaints or stumpers) at hfox@juno.com or 2005 Burroughs Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45406.