JOAT writes:


Used to be, and probably still is, one of the most dangerous things
in the military, was an 01 with a pen. Give 'em something to write, and
they want to show off their education. They'd make it as verbose as
possible, and use the biggest words they can look up. Problem was,
nobody could understand what they were trying to say. We could normally
chop 2-3 pages down to a paragraph, usually a short paragraph at that,
and get the point across.

One of the hardest things for most college graduates to learn is that long
words don't do the job if short words can be substituted. It was less difficult
for me because I worked as a copywriter in an ad agency before going to
college.

But, then, I was never an 01. Got to E4 and left.

The military used the K.I.S.S. principle in writing. Keep It
Simple Stupid. Most people read at an 8th grade level; yes, even the
college grads. Write at an 8th grade level, and you get it across to
everyone - well, there's always that certain percentage that doesn't get
anything. Write at a higher level, and a good percentage of your
readers won't get it.

Not just the military.

Charlie Self

http://hometown.aol.com/charliediy/m.../business.html