Are Copywriters Partly to Blame for Shrinking Vocabulary?

“Instead of stretching minds, worlds – including the world of words – are being shrunk to fit them.”

So writes Lynsey Hanley in the Guardian.

Lynsey’s article discusses society’s growing inarticulacy, and the way in which our education system is designed to suit capabilities rather than challenge them.

This got me thinking because copywriters are taught to use simple, plain English, to avoid baffling an audience they want to persuade. While this is clearly a sensible approach for business communications, copywriters should be wary of over-simplifying their writing.

We may eventually be left with too few words to adequately express ourselves.

Comments

  1. […] previously blogged about the importance of not dumbing-down corporate communications. It’s clearly a difficult […]

    Pingback by Brighton Copywriter - Freelance Copywriting, Web Copy and Search Engine Optimisation Services (SEO) » Literary junk food - why you shouldn’t limit your vocabulary — August 18, 2008 @ 6:06 am

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