Oxford Guide to Plain English
5th Edition
Published on 27. February 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-19-884461-7 (ISBN)
Description
Plain English is the art of writing clearly, concisely, and in a way that precisely communicates your message to your intended audience. This book offers expert advice to help writers of all abilities improve their written English. With 30 chapters, each centred around a practical guideline, its coverage is extensive, including lessons on vocabulary, punctuation, grammar, layout, proofreading, and organization. There are also hundreds of real examples to show how it's done, with handy 'before' and 'after' versions. All this is presented in a straightforward and engaging way.
This new edition has been fully revised, reorganized, and updated to make its content even more accessible. There are new chapters discussing customer-service writing and common blunders in the workplace, while other sections have been amended to update examples and provide easier routes through the book. The chapter on sexism, in particular, has been heavily expanded to advise on the use of inclusive language in general. A new appendix has also been added, summarising the history of plain English from Chaucer to the present day.
This new edition has been fully revised, reorganized, and updated to make its content even more accessible. There are new chapters discussing customer-service writing and common blunders in the workplace, while other sections have been amended to update examples and provide easier routes through the book. The chapter on sexism, in particular, has been heavily expanded to advise on the use of inclusive language in general. A new appendix has also been added, summarising the history of plain English from Chaucer to the present day.
Reviews / Votes
More than ever there's a need for writers and editors to understand how best to apply plain English concepts. In this new edition of the Oxford Guide to Plain English Martin Cutts sets out an excellent approach to doing just that. It is an essential reference book for anyone interested in plain English. * Mary McCauley, Association of Freelance Editors, Proofreaders and Indexers of Ireland * Review from previous edition An excellent book ... indispensable to anyone compiling a style guide ... The multitude of real-life examples demonstrating the practices described make the book equally useful to experienced writers checking specific points and to novices needing broader guidance. * Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC) Magazine, Sept 2008 * This is a most useful addition to the shelves of anyone who has to write whether it is for the web, report-writing, letters, emails, instruction manuals or legal documents. Here is clarity and common sense - this little book provides it all and for a very reasonable cost indeed. * Reference Reviews, Joan Williamson * [S]hould be on every writer's bookshelf * Susanne Geercken and Alistair Reeves, Medical Writing * A pleasure to read ... the Oxford Guide to Plain English should be on every editor's bookshelf. * Claire Bacon, Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading * This book has been on my list of recommended reading ever since lawyers first started asking me to suggest a book on clear writing ... Following even half the advice in this book will make you one of the clearest communicators in the legal profession. * Daphne Perry, The Law Society Gazette * This is an excellent book! Information is presented in a crisp, clear and easy to read way. The principles are easily grasped, and the use of examples helps the reader to test their understanding and reinforce their own learning. * Warren Singer, Communicator *More details
Edition
5th Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
15 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 193 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
402 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-884461-7 (9780198844617)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Martin Cutts
Oxford Guide to Plain English
E-Book
02/2020
5th Edition
OUP eBook
€5.49
Available for download
Martin Cutts
Oxford Guide to Plain English
E-Book
02/2020
5th Edition
OUP eBook
€5.49
Available for download
Previous edition
Martin Cutts
Oxford Guide to Plain English
Book
08/2013
4th Edition
Oxford University Press
€11.15
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Martin Cutts is a writer, editor, and teacher. He co-founded the Plain English Campaign in 1979, and in 1994 he founded Plain Language Commission. He gives writing-skills courses in companies, government departments, and law firms. He is a leading voice in the international plain-language movement.
Content
Acknowledgements Starting points The thirty guidelines Summary of the twelve main guidelines 1: Planning comes first 2: Organizing your material in a reader-centred structure 3: Writing short sentences and clear paragraphs 4: Preferring plain words 5: Writing concisely 6: Favouring active-voice verbs 7: Using vigorous verbs 8: Using vertical lists 9: Converting negative to positive 10: Using good punctuation 11: Using good grammar 12: Keeping errors in Czech: its time to Proof read 13: Dealing with some troublesome words and phrases 14: Using or avoiding foreign words 15: Undoing knotty noun strings 16: Reducing cross-references 17: Exploring and exploding some writing myths 18: Avoiding cliches 19: Pitching your writing at the right level 20: Writing sound starts and excellent endings 21: Creating better emails 22: Using inclusive language 23: Using alternatives to words alone 24: Caring enough about customers to write to them clearly 25: Overseeing colleagues' writing 26: Writing better instructions 27: Clarifying for the Web 28: Making legal language lucid 29: Writing low-literacy plain English 30: Clarifying page layout: some basics Appendix 1: Commonest words Appendix 2: A short history of plain-English moments Sources and notes Index