Fog

One of my all time favorites is a probably long forgotten training manual on “Writing for UNICEF”, issued 13 years ago by the Training Section of the Division of Personnel.

Among others, it introduces the “Fog Index”, a formula devised by Robert Gunning to determine the fogginess of a text. The formula goes as follows:

The formula checks whether we are long-winded, and use complicated words. The manual recommends a fog index of 10 – 15 for UNICEF writing. According to this formula, the following fogginess has been established:

• Times and Newsweek: 10

• New York Times: 14

• Reader’s Digest: 8

• Most popular novels: 8-10

• SOWC 1989: 12

• 2003 Board Papers and 2002 UNICEF CO annual reports:18+

But I didn’t want to write about writing styles and editing techniques. My concern is the reported reporting overload, and the gist of what is actually being reported. As our colleague Min-Whee Kang reminded me, the poet Nicolas Boileau (1636-1711) pointed out 300 years ago that foggy writing is not only an issue of judicious editing:

«Ce que l'on conçoit bien s'énonce clairement, 
et les mots pour le dire viennent aisément.^[1]»

 Notwithstanding the actual fogginess of this thought, its calculated Fog Index is 13.

^[1] What one conceives well presents itself clearly, and the words to say it arrive easily.

(29 May 2003)

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