Specialised language

Hello timo,

Here we are, back once again, not with the renegade master, alas, but a new edition of the Plain English Club newsletter. Sent by me, yep, Iain Broome.

I know four commas in the opening sentence of a newsletter about plain English is not ideal, but we are where we are. Thank you to everyone who shared the last email I sent you. Lots of new readers as a result. Hello new readers!

Without further faffing, on to the good stuff.

Iain

Use Specialised Language for Specialised Audiences

There is plenty in this Jakub Nielsen post from 2014 that applies today:

Even for specialised audiences it’s still best to write as simple as possible. Even highly educated people don’t want to struggle to read your site. You do not impress anybody by spouting highfalutin words or complex sentence structures that require careful parsing. People don’t pay close attention to web content.

He then goes on to make the case for using 'specialised language' if you are sure that the person reading knows what it means.

Specialised language is not only more concise but also clearer, as long as the reader is a specialist who understands the terminology.

I think this is still pretty good advice too. And I think the thrust of what he is saying is all wrapped up in the principles of what we now call content design. Effectively, before you write or design any content, make sure you understand who it is for and how they will use it.

That said, the one thing in the piece that I do strongly object to in this article is the bit about writing for specific 'reading ages'. Caroline Jarrett has covered this perfectly in her piece about reading age.

Do not use “reading age” when thinking about adults. It’s not helpful, and it fails to acknowledge the life experience of people with reading difficulties.

Don't forget you can find lots of other articles on this kind of thing in our shared list of Plain English Club Bookmarks!