“Ours is the age of substitutes: instead of language we have jargon…”

Not, alas, our words, but a sentiment that we are sure readers will identify with nonetheless.

How many times, for instance, have you wanted a straight answer and, instead, got gobbledegook?

It is everywhere – we get it over the phone, face to face, in the many forms that are part of modern life…it seems there is no escape.

Arm-in-arm with its partner in misery-making, red-tape, it can crop up anywhere, but it is in its natural environment of bureaucracy that it seems to truly thrive.

Bradford Council is the latest in a long line of public bodies to be criticised for using too much jargon and difficult words, following a check on how accessible the vast amount of information it puts out is to disabled people.

While the other faults highlighted in the survey could be blamed on a lack of skills or resources, it is hard to understand why straightforward language is not used. After all, it costs nothing and is more effective.

Jargon, on the other hand, is almost always unhelpful and unwelcome – it does not aid communication, it hinders it.

And while it may make the speaker or writer feel important, it often makes others feel smaller, and that can never be right.

The reasons for banishing it could not be clearer.