The GQP opposition to the slush fund

[Betty Boom]

14. The Existence of Google Is Not a Substitute for Clear Writing

The issue isn’t whether I know how to use a search engine. The issue is whether a writer is communicating effectively with their audience.

Good writers don’t force readers to stop and decode insider jargon every few paragraphs. If your goal is communication rather than signaling membership in a particular group, you define uncommon terms when you first use them.

The existence of Google does not absolve writers of the responsibility to write clearly. By that logic, no author would ever need to explain anything because readers could simply look it up themselves.

What’s interesting is that you seem genuinely unaware that “GQP” is not a mainstream term. The fact that it feels self-evident to you actually illustrates the problem. When people spend enough time in an insular community, they begin to mistake that community’s vocabulary for universally understood language.

And saying that two other people agreed with you isn’t evidence that you’re right. It’s just an appeal to popularity. Arguments stand or fall on their merits, not on how many people in the room happen to share the same assumption.

Effective writing reduces the reader’s workload. It doesn’t assign homework.