On the joy of language

Being a comms agency, we’re unsurprisingly a little obsessed with language - we wrote a style guide before we wrote a marketing plan (this is, apparently, not recommended). 

As with so much these days, it’s impossible to ignore the Trump of it all when it comes to this topic. Ogilvy UK’s vice-chairman and beloved raconteur Rory Sutherland presents an interesting take that the US President, in the lineage of history’s populists, succeeds in reaching audiences by rejecting the “technocratic, Ivy-Leaguish measured style of established politicians” (or communicators for that matter).

Balancing the necessity of writing (and speaking) in a way that actually meets an audience where they are with the joy, artistry, and, (let’s be honest) ego of truly beautiful language is a daunting and daily task.

So, it pays to call out examples of those who have done it well. 

First, Sally Rooney (of Normal People and Intermezzo fame) wrote an essay about snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan. The piece is insightful, often unexpected, and accessible, combining surprisingly breezy paragraphs on the rules of the sport with lines such as “snooker dramatises obsession in a very pure form, hyper-fixation made visible.”

Secondly, and perhaps less expected, is the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts’ report on the Australian live music industry, Am I Ever Gonna See You Live Again?. 

The language used by legislative bodies is notoriously abstruse, but the Chair’s summary from outgoing Member for Lyons, Brian Mitchell, sounds like a human, and what’s more, a human who cares about the subject matter. We’d like to buy him a beer.

As for our style guide? There’s a fair few rules in it (mostly related to parenthetical elements), but we’ll end with our favourite: 

We believe if you’re good enough to have made a career from language, you’ve earned the right to play with it. Just a little.