From cb4c55b1cbe35314469599c0e643e3af4f9afb38 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: =?UTF-8?q?benjamin=20melan=C3=A7on?= Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2020 09:10:36 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Add Orwell's rules --- content-style-guide.md | 9 +++++++++ 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+) diff --git a/content-style-guide.md b/content-style-guide.md index 9cdf5a0..9d7453f 100644 --- a/content-style-guide.md +++ b/content-style-guide.md @@ -49,6 +49,15 @@ Focus your message, and create a hierarchy of information. Lead with the main po * Don’t use underline, and don’t use any combination of italic, bold, caps, and underline. * When in doubt, read your writing out loud. +Many of these repeat or reinforce George Orwell's six rules from his essay "Politics and the English Language" (1946), and it is worth keeping all of them in mind, especially the last: + +> (i) Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. +> (ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do. +> (iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. +> (iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active. +> (v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. +> (vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous. + ### Writing for accessibility