One of the best known rules of plain language writing is ‘Avoid the passive voice’. As George Orwell said, wagging his finger sternly: ‘Never use the passive when you can use the active.’  Really? Not at all? Not one teensy-weensy […]

If I want to say ‘the government is up to no good’, should I use a capital ‘g’ for government? Not according to the new Australian Government Style Manual.  But there’s a capital ‘G’ in the previous sentence, so when […]

The language around gender and sexuality has changed radically in the past few decades. The Australian Government’s newly revised Style Manual provides guidance for writers wanting to make their writing more inclusive. Top of the list is the use of […]

You’ve spent months in your new position carefully noting the boss’s little style bugbears. That important brief has bounced up and down stairs a few times. The end is in sight, and you’re quite proud of it. But unexpectedly it […]

  Does a language ever really die? Surely, we do not yet understand the vitality of Etruscan, Linear A or Harappan. But does ‘dying’ accurately describe more contemporary endangered languages? ‘Dying’ or ‘extinct’ forecasts a dire future that rules out […]