Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I think this is a case of executives with too much free time on their hands. A bet was probably won base on the number of pointless phrases and words that could be used to state something which should have taken only a few well constructed thoughts.

I actually used to use some of those words before they became popular buzz words... now I strain the make them exempt from my writings.

I've had extensive education in corporate communications/writing.....and this is far from textbook correct.

The whole point of business writing is to keep something clear, concise and articulate.

It's like advertising---if you can watch a 60 second commercial and have almost NO clue what they are selling, an ad has failed miserably. Same goes for business writing---the object is not to "dazzle" the audience with their prose and vocabulary, it's to get a clear message across.

I can't completely agree with that. It depends on who the audience is and the message being communicated. In the case of the company I work for, communications that announce changes/decisions that may be unpopular with the employees, the point is to obfuscate the message such that nobody really can understand it, but retain enough accuracy so that legally, they won't have issues with it...

Effective communication is all about knowing your audience CJ so you are right from that perspective however; Collin is also correct. Particularly for his stated target audience. Two rights will never make a wrong as far as I recall.

What's the big surprise? Lawyers have perfected this ridiculous practice of making even the simplest issue as complicated as quantum physics, which is more based in the area of "job security" than effective communication.IMHO. Why bother being straight to the point when you can baffle everybody with confusing verbage to make yourself look "educated"? Hmmm..........

kiramdear wrote:I'm already way behind on my list of things to be cynical about.

You, too?

whojamfan wrote:What's the big surprise? Lawyers have perfected this ridiculous practice of making even the simplest issue as complicated as quantum physics, which is more based in the area of "job security" than effective communication.IMHO. Why bother being straight to the point when you can baffle everybody with confusing verbage to make yourself look "educated"? Hmmm..........

Having been married into a family of lawyers and judges awhile back, and having a "current" wife who quit law school to experience the joys of raising a child later in life, I'm not sure if I agree with that blanket statement. The law is necessarily complex as most well-developed disciplines are (ask our organic chemistry genius, the Good Doctor Who about his own profession), but we foster a good deal of resentment for it because it directly impacts our wallets more than other professions. In our obsession with equality and fairness, we have made our legal codes virtually impenetrable and rife with ironic twists, and it takes a lawyer to undo the often Gordian knot of what should rightly be accessible to all citizens in our Democracy. So I believe that lawyers are translators more than complicators.

Then, of course, there are the Legal Mavericks, who most often play the very visible game of Heroes and Villains.

These examples are amateur work. It takes the Fed to bring this concept to the level of a science!!

This is an extract from the AF's "Tongue & Quill", which is a really useful guide to writing and speaking--the example below is included as a bit of humor. (The format doesn't translate well to the page here, but just just envision the numbered words in three vertical columns)

WIN WITH WORDSMANSHIP

After years of hacking through etymological thickets at the US Public Health Service, Philip
Broughton, a 69-year old official, created a surefire method to convert frustration into fulfillment
(jargonwise). Euphemistically called the Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector, Broughton’s system
employs a lexicon of 30 carefully chosen “buzzwords”:
COLUMN 1 COLUMN 2 COLUMN 3
0. integrated 0. management 0. options
1. total 1. organizational 1. flexibility
2. systematized 2. monitored 2. capability
3. parallel 3. reciprocal 3. mobility
4. functional 4. digital 4. programming
5. responsive 5. logistical 5. concept
6. optional 6. transitional 6. time-phase
7. synchronized 7. incremental 7. projection
8. compatible 8. third-generation 8. hardware
9. balanced 9. policy 9. contingency

The procedure is simple. Think of any three-digit number, then select the corresponding
buzzword from each column. For instance, numbers 2, 5, and 7 produce “systematized logistical
projection,” a phrase that can be dropped into virtually any report with that ring of decisive,
knowledgeable authority. “No one will have the remotest idea of what you’re talking about,”
says Broughton, “but the important thing is they’re not about to admit it.”

jingle_jangle wrote:The law is necessarily complex as most well-developed disciplines are (ask our organic chemistry genius, the Good Doctor Who about his own profession)...

Yes, this is true in engineering as well, hence this bit of humor that has been floating around for decades:
Engineering Procedure

Sorry I can't post it directly, it's got a whole bunch of complex mathematical symbols...

Pre-Broughton, there was a similar effort brought to fruition in a circular slide rule type device I once had called the "Perpetual Obfuscation Calculator". It would allow you to juxtapose buzzwords for similar and usually hilarious results.

whojamfan wrote:What's the big surprise? Lawyers have perfected this ridiculous practice of making even the simplest issue as complicated as quantum physics,

They even have a term for it:

"Legalese"

The whole point of lawyer-language is so that words are carefully chosen that literally have only one concrete definition to avoid any "gray area" that could get their client in hot water if it wasn't entirely clear.

It does get annoying though!

This seems like an appropriate moment to resurrect this old chestnut:

Here is the definitive description of.........

Ah yes, the lovely Marina Orlova..