Words, words, words… Putting them together so that they make sense is a challenge. Putting them together so that they are both meaningful and understandable to readers – that’s a double challenge. If I asked you what the most difficult texts you’ve ever read were, you would probably list contracts, official state letters, legal acts… But, would you believe that the quiet plain language revolution began in a bank?
Ancient roots?
Some say that we can track the first attempts at communicating in plain language back to ancient times. ‘An eye for an eye’ 1 – Can there be anything simpler? ‘When you wish to instruct, be brief’2, said Cicero, the ancient Roman orator. But we must remember that most people at that time could neither read nor write. These skills were reserved for well-educated members of society – the aristocracy, the clergy, and clerks. It was only in the 19th century, with the development of mandatory schooling, that literacy numbers grew. In 1820, about 20% of the world’s population was literate, meaning they could read and write a simple description of their daily lives. By the 1960s, that number had risen to over 60%.3
‘Government gobbledygook’4
It was in the 1960s and early 1970s when the idea of what we now call plain language appeared. People’s literacy skills vary for many reasons. And even the most educated reader, when faced with a loan contract or any other kind of official document, might feel powerless and understand very little.
In 1966, John O’Hayre, an employee of the Bureau of Land Management’s Western Information Office in Denver (Colorado), published a book entitled Gobbeltygook has gotta go. At the beginning, he argued that lawyers and governmental administration should change the century-old tradition of writing complex legal formulas. He claimed that these formulas were old-fashioned, outdated, and created centuries ago for a society that no longer existed. He called this style of writing ‘government gobbledygook’ and added: ‘It’s too out-of-date to renovate; it’s too expensive to tolerate’.5
Law to understand
I don’t know if any of Citibank’s New York employees ever read O’Hayre’s book, but they were the first bank to simplify their promissory note. After using the same template for over 50 years, in 1970 they replaced the 3000-word template with a 600-word simplified document.6 Other banks quickly followed this courageous step. What’s more, Citibank’s revolutionary approach resonated widely in governmental commissions.7
The following years brought the first official regulations on plain language in the USA. President Nixon decreed that the Federal Register should be written in ‘layman’s terms’. He was followed by President Carter, who ordered government regulations to be ‘cost-effective and easy-to-understand by those who were required to comply with them’. President Clinton issued a Memorandum on Plain Language in Government Writing in 1998, and in 2010, President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act.8
European countries and organisations also recognised the urgent need to simplify communication with their citizens and stakeholders. Since the 1970s, numerous associations dedicated to the popularisation of plain language rules have been set up around the world. In 2007, during a conference in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) organised by Plain Language Association International, the idea of standardising plain language was born. After numerous conferences, studies and consultations9, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) published the Plain Language Standards in June 2023.10
Plain language in daily life
Today, plain language is increasingly present in our daily lives. Universities establish departments dedicated to it, museums rewrite complicated explanations to make them more readable, state offices simplify numerous forms…
Our fast-paced lives require information that is concise and easy to read.
Our multilingual society requires communication adapted to various levels of language proficiency.
Plain language enables smooth communication…and communication is the key to mutual understanding and personal development.
References
- This is a common, shortened version of a sentence: ‘If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.’ It is inscribed on Hammurabi’s stele from 1792–1750 BCE. You can see it in the Louvre (Paris, France). ↩︎
- Quote after: www.plainlanguage.gov, accessed on 21 May 2025. ↩︎
- Numbers after: ourworldindata.org/literacy, accessed on 21 May 2025. According to the same resource literacy rate reached 95% in 2023. ↩︎
- John O’Hayre, Gobbledygook has gotta go, Washington, 1966, p.5. ↩︎
- Ibidem. ↩︎
- Duncan MacDonald, The Story of a Famous Promissory Note, in: The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, 2005–2006, accessed on 21 May 2025, p. 82. ↩︎
- Ibidem, p. 85. ↩︎
- plainlanguage.gov / History and Timeline, accessed on 22 May 2025. ↩︎
- For a detailed timeline, see: Timeline of developing the ISO plain language standard, (n.d.), accessed on 22 May 2025. ↩︎
- They are published under the title ISO 24495-1:2023 Plain language — Part 1: Governing principles and guidelines. ↩︎