Barnabas Notes

That quote was the senior high yearbook quote of one of the smartest people I knew in college. Anyone who knows me and knows how I like to speak knows that I am always happy to choose plainer language and I’m a stickler for words meaning what they should.

Merlin Mann points out an essay that focuses on how buzzwords cheapen language I couldn’t agree more. The essay touches on George Orwell’s 1964 essay about langague. As one who had to read 1984 in high school, there have been times at meeting when I’ve wanted to call people double plus good quack talkers.

As I’ve mentioned before I’m reading a book on Lincoln. Most people thought he was a country bumpkin and Seward was really running the show. As Lincoln slowly but surely changed people’s mind it was often his plain and powerful rhetoric that convinced people he was fit for the job and the times.

It’s not fancy words that make an argument compelling, its the force of logic and the composition of simple words that create the impact.