4 ms·
50% of Americans can't read a book written at an 8th grade reading level[0]. It's one of the reasons politicians don't use jargon and fancy words. I think they'
by daenz 4y ago
50% of Americans can't read a book written at an 8th grade reading level[0]. It's one of the reasons politicians don't use jargon and fancy words. I think they'd probably laugh if you told them they should be talking above their constituents' understanding.
0. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/11/01/hiding-in-plain-sight-the-adult-literacy-crisis/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/11/...
- na85 4y agoSeems to me the solution to that problem is to fix the problems with American schools that produce such illiterate citizens, rather than continue dumbing everything down.
- the_only_law 4y agoWhen I was in school, the kids that had the best grades and were in all the good programs always ended up reading. aloud. like. this.
- na85 4y agoI don't know what that means.
- happytoexplain 4y agoThis is a reason to use more (appropriate/useful) words, not fewer. Politics is one of the few contexts where you are explicitly addressing the largest and most horizontally sampled set of people possible. Politicians speak that way out of necessity.
- frumper 4y agoNo one said an author shouldn’t choose what words to write. They are astonished people want browsers to choose. If politicians want a to use simple words, good for them.