The Plain English Campaign (PEC) is a commercial editing and training firm based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Founded in 1979 by

Chrissie Maher Chrissie Maher (born 1938) co-founded Plain English Campaign, a company that promotes the clear use of English, particularly by businesses and official bodies. Chrissie was inspired both by the need for democratic language (information that could ...

, the company is a world leader in plain-language advocacy, working to persuade organisations in the UK and abroad to communicate with the public in plain language. Maher was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1994 for her services to plain communication. In 1990, PEC created the Crystal Mark, its seal of approval. This is a symbol printed on documents that it considers to be as clear as possible for the intended audience. The symbol appears on over 20,000 documents worldwide. They also give out the annual

Foot in Mouth Award The Foot in Mouth Award is presented each year by the Plain English Campaign for "a baffling comment by a public figure". The award was first made in 1993, when it was given to Ted Dexter, the chairman of selectors for the England cricket team. I ...

for "a baffling comment by a public figure" and the

Golden Bull Award The Golden Bull Award is an award that is given annually by the Plain English Campaign to an organisation who has made what is deemed by the campaign to be a confusing and bad use of English (see gobbledygook). Past "Winners" Started in 1980, t ...

for "the worst examples of written tripe". Notable winners of the Foot in Mouth Award include

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

, and

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...

. PEC has worked all over the world for companies and organisations including

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving ...

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

Irish Life Irish Life Assurance plc, commonly known as Irish Life, is an Irish life assurance and pensions company. Irish Life has been part of the Great-West Lifeco group of companies since 2013, when the Irish Government sold the business. Prior to 201 ...

Telefónica O2 O2 (typeset as O2) is a global brand name owned by the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica. The company uses the O2 brand for its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Germany. Since 2018, it is also used as an online-only flanker br ...

and the World Bowls association. It has also worked with the majority of UK council and government departments. Many UK forms and bills carry the Crystal Mark, including the

British passport A British passport is a travel document issued by the United Kingdom or other British dependencies and territories to individuals holding any form of British nationality. It grants the bearer international passage in accordance with visa requ ...

application form. PEC is often described in the media as a

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...

, and regularly makes public comment about language-related news stories, particularly

jargon Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...

. In 2008 it criticised a consultation document sent to residents living near

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. The year before, it mocked signs put up by police in Hertfordshire that warned the public not to commit crime. In 2006 its supporters voted

Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish football player and manager, who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. Shankly brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winnin ...

the author of the greatest footballing quotation of all time. A 2004 survey revealed that "At the end of the day" was considered the most irritating cliché. Famous supporters of PEC include

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

and broadcaster

John Humphrys Desmond John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a Welsh broadcaster. From 1981 to 1987 he was the main presenter for the '' Nine O'Clock News'', the flagship BBC News television programme, and from 1987 until 2019 he presented on the BBC Radio 4 ...

. PEC has been criticised by writer

Oliver Kamm Oliver Kamm (born 1963) is a British journalist and writer who is a leader writer and columnist for ''The Times''. Early life and career Kamm is the son of translator Anthea Bell and publisher Antony Kamm. Kamm is the grandson of Adrian Bell ...

, who wrote: "The joke – not that it's funny – is that a body ostensibly concerned with clarity of language is both incompetent in its own use of English and heedless of the task it sets itself." A different point of view was given by Tom McArthur, editor of ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', who said, "In all the history of the language, there has never been such a powerful grassroots movement to influence it as Plain English Campaign." In 2011 PEC criticised the

Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...

for using the phrase "probabilities of precipitation" instead of "rain is likely". The Met Office responded by explaining that precipitation does not mean only rain. A Met Office spokesman said: "Precipitation covers a wide range of stuff falling from the sky including rain, sleet, snow, hail, drizzle, and even cats and dogs – but sums it up in just one word."

References

External links

* {{Official website, name=Plain English Campaign English language English usage controversies Organizations established in 1979 Organisations based in Derbyshire Language activists Plain English

See also

References

External links