Plain English

Today is officially 'Plain English' day. This is an official day which is organised by the 'Plain English Campaign' who are a group which has been - 'Fighting for crystal-clear communication since 1979'.

You may have noticed the slow creeping changes that have gradually moved into the English Language. In the maritime and marine circles, the influx of these bad habits and abbreviations has not fortunately taken a tremendous grip but small changes are slowly appearing and its inevitable that they will appear.

I’m no great fan but I am sure that the most recent annoying abbreviations come from texting on mobile phones.

For example:

‘LOL’ - Laugh Out Loud . Just why you might want to write and tell somebody you are laughing out loud is a bit odd in itself. Is there a scenario where you could introduce the term ‘NLOL’ – Not Laughing Out Loud ! And what is wrong with the term happy and not happy. Laughter takes a number of forms so are you chuckling or hysterical. Could this be a veiled criticism.

‘RGDS’ – is short for regards. Since I last looked, the three additional letters that are required for regards do not cost any more and the time taken to write these extra letters is a mere a fraction . So, one must therefore conclude that there is some degree of being lazy in this matter .

Surely there must also be a risk of being misunderstood. When I first saw the phrase ‘LOL’ I wondered if I knew the person called Lol !

Another phrase that I find odd is ‘Thinking outside the envelope’. What is wrong with the word ideas. Do people have to be reminded to think. Might it be cold outside and since when have I thought of getting into the envelope in the first place.

Lets ‘blitz’ this ..... Now I think I understand that this is to really look or do something in a very intensive manner. But if you connected the word Blitz with bombing could you also think about destroying something beyond repair.

Anyways, on that note I am going to ‘SO’ (sign-off) and leave you to your own devices ! LU Skippersguide