Goldfish bowl facilitated conversation
p2pnet view Off Topic:- ‘Webinar’ surely has to be one of nastiest bits of 21st century jargon. It looks like something dreamed up by a PR hack and there’s just something about it that’s unpleasant.
The same can be said for ‘wellderly’ so it’s not surprising to learn that, together with disbenefits, under-capacitated and clienting, they’re “impenetrable phrases” which are included on the Local Government Association (LGA) list of “banned words”.
Then there’s this — “goldfish bowl facilitated conversation”.
“Just as it would be impossible for two IT professionals to speak to each other without using technical talk, it would be impossible for public sector experts to avoid using a degree of jargon”, says the association, going on:
“However, the LGA Group believes that while there is a place for technical language to be used between experts, jargon must be removed from documents and publications that are aimed at the public.
“Councils up and down the country are working to eradicate from their work as many of these words as possible and to help, the LGA Group has launched a plain English website to help all public bodies remove jargon. This can be found at http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=8021380 ”
Examples include:
- Harrow Council announced that it would use the clearest English possible in dealing with phone calls, e-mails and visits from the public. It identified ‘seven sins of jargon’ which it told staff to stop using in conversation with the public, and provided plain English substitutes.
- Leeds City Council has launched a ‘How to communicate clearly’ campaign featuring half-day workshops for staff. It includes tips on using plain English. Last year the council ran a ‘Sign of the times’ campaign for residents to identify where they thought there were confusing or out of date signs.
- Liverpool City Council is considering changing job titles to help the public understand what staff do, and will ensure documents are written in plain English.
- London Borough of Barking and Dagenham leaflets are checked by the Plain English Campaign before being sent out. All other communications are written using plain English guidelines.
(Cheers, catflap)
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
LGA – New list published of 250 words the public sector shouldn’t use, March 11, 2010
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