The Golden Gobbledygook Award!
Adam Freeman, proprietor of The Party of the First Part blog, is looking for prize-winning examples of legal gobbledygook for the first ever Golden Gobbledygook Award.
…we’re looking for bad legalese. Exquisitely bad. Kind of like the Bulwer-Lytton Prize for the worst opening line of prose (“It was a dark and stormy night… . “).
…
The winning entry and runners-up will be posted to the Hall Of Shame on the POFP website — and the person who submits the winning entry will get a signed copy of my new book, as well as the new audio book from star podcaster Grammar Girl, Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman, and Lifting the Fog of Legalese by Joseph Kimble.
Kimble’s book alone is a great prize. I’ve interviewed Kimble (you can read it here); he’s a tireless advocate of plain English in legal documents, and his book is a treasure chest of great advice.
This contest promises to showcase some exquisite [exquisitely bad?] examples of legalese. Check it out, scour your legal documents (waranties, prospectuses, and credit card agreements qualify) and send Freeman your worst examples.
Roy Jacobsen
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