As a movement, "plain language" is believed to have been kick-started back in the 1970s, when consumer-rights advocates won legislation requiring plain language in contracts, insurance policies and government regulations--a reaction to the pretentious gobbledygook that is commonly called "legalese."

In the last few years--which, in the context of language, is barely a heartbeat--the crusade appears to have gathered more steam with the implementation passing of the Plain Language Act in the U.S. in 2010.

The Government of Canada doesn't have legislation but it does have its own policy, which was put into place in 2006 and updated in 2012. (Fittingly, that policy makes up only 81 words within the 12,500-word communications policy.)

Governments at all levels seem to be jumping on board. Late last month, in an effort to speak to its citizens "effectively and in a way that is easily understood by the intended audience," the City of Calgary passed its own plain-language policy.

But what does "plain language" mean, exactly? If I had to sum it up in a sentence, I would offer this: It is unadorned, well-elucidated and economical language that is targeted, unswervingly, at the reader so said reader can comprehend the text's fundamental meaning and connotations sans succor.

Huh?

Okay, it is language that is direct, clear, concise and easily understood by the intended audience.

Easily understood by the intended audience. That, I think, is at the heart of plain language. It allows the reader to concentrate on the content, not the individual words. But it also gets to the point using shorter sentences and, often, shorter words.

Making language simple is not easy. Nor is it fast. As French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal once said, "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter."* But it is well worth the effort if your goal is to be understood and to connect with your reader.

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*Actually, there is little agreement on the source of this quote. It's been attributed to Mark Twain, T.S. Elliot, Ernest Hemmingway, German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Bert and Ernie, and even Bill Clinton, to name a few. Okay, maybe not Bert and Ernie.