Mumbo jumbo

"Timely preparation, including structural and non-structural mitigation measures to avoid the impacts of severe winter weather, can avert heavy personal, business and government expenditures," the federal government advises. "Experts agree that the following measures can be effective in dealing with the challenges of severe winter weather."

By October, when the "Plain Writing Act" signed into law last fall by President Obama takes effect, grammarians hope bureaucrats will get the message, revising that advisory to read something more like: "Severe winter weather can be extremely dangerous. Consider these safety tips to protect your property and yourself."

Fans of plain English lobbied for the new law for years. So by July, each agency must have a senior official overseeing plain writing, a section of its website devoted to the effort and employee training under way.

Of course, those behind such well-meaning enactments doubtless assume the government wants to be better understood, ignoring the fact that impenetrable prose can empower bureaucrats to disguise their true purpose behind double-talk and euphemism.

Members of the military only slightly exaggerate this tendency toward hygienic prose when they report their actions have "adversely affected the structural integrity of the domicile," when they really mean they blew the place up.

The reform is worth a try. Surely Americans should not have to hire a lawyer, an accountant and a Navajo code talker to sort out every advisory or government tax form.

But do we think it will work?

To quote the late Sen. Everett Dirksen, "To answer that question would be almost a pre-judgment of a matter on which testimony is yet to be taken and considered."