My highlight of the week was the WriteMark Plain English Awards dinner at Shed 5.
Last year, I had the honour (and pressure) of being the after-dinner speaker.
This year, I could just relax and enjoy the wit of Fair Go’s Kevin Milne, and the wisdom of my former Colenso colleague Ian McDougall.
Turns out Kevin’s most loathed piece of gobbledygook is the same as mine:
…going forward.
The explosion of cheers at its every mention suggested that this ghastly phrase has attained the status of Plain English Enemy Number One.
Why?
Because it’s mind-numbingly, teeth-gnashingly, hair-tearingly, eye-gougingly superfluous. That’s why.
No prizes for guessing where it came from, either.
