Aucbvax.2448
fa.works
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!works
Sun Jul 26 21:53:44 1981
New use for word processors
>From DLO@SU-AI Sun Jul 26 21:47:19 1981
Commerce Workers Find Many Words Aren't Viable, er, Acceptable
By SALLY JACOBSEN Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Management analyst Steve Piekarec has a
picky word processor. It doesn't like certain words. And it
doesn't hesitate to tell him so.
When the machine finds a word like "viable" in a memo, it
will stop and flash, "Don't Use This Word!" on its TV-like
screen.
It's a signal that this is one of several dozen words or
phrases that Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige doesn't want
to see in Commerce Department letters or memos.
Baldrige, a onetime cowboy who is gaining a reputation as
the Reagan administration's fighter for plain talk in government,
started his campaign in March to weed out overly long or incorrect
language.
He says he wants lean sentences, active verbs and no
unnecessary adjectives or adverbs.
"In short, halfway between Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey
with no bureaucratese," he tells his employees.
The latest step in the drive is to fix some word processors
in the department so that while scanning memos, they will tilt
at the slightest ping of a forbidden word against their memory
banks.
The 43 words and phrases Piekarec's word processor doesn't
like are:
- I would hope, I would like to express my appreciation,
as I am sure you know, as you are aware, as you know,
at the present time, best wishes;
- Bottom line, delighted, different than, enclosed herewith,
finalize, glad, great majority, happy, hereinafter,
hopefully, however, image, input, institutionalize;
(. . . Story continues for about 40 more lines. Send mail to
DLO@SAIL for copy of complete story.)
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