U.K. police chiefs wrote 102-word sentence

Published: July 2, 2009 at 7:08 PM

LONDON, July 2 (UPI) -- A British group that lobbies for clear use of language has slammed a 102-word sentence in a letter by the country's police chiefs as "gobbledygook."

The Plain English Campaign said the sentence -- composed by the Association of Chief Police Officers in response to the British government's Green Paper on policing -- stands a good chance of winning the campaign's Golden Bull award in December, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.

"This sort of business gobbledygook is pretty much inexcusable now," said Marie Claire, a spokeswoman for the Plain English Campaign. "What excuse is there for this single sentence?"

Claire said she fell asleep while reading the sentence "and consequently did not have cause to ponder upon the meanings of 'centrally-engineered one size fits all initiatives' or 'amorphous challenges' -- that is wrestling with a jellyfish, right?"

More to the point, she said the sentence "is ridiculous."

"What are ACPO doing? Who are they trying to kid? I have got qualifications, I understand language, but I cannot understand this."

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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