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President Bush comes second in "Foot in Mouth" award
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Former England soccer manager Steve McClaren fought off tough competition from US President George W. Bush to win a dreaded "Foot in Mouth" award on Tuesday from the Plain English campaign.
He was hailed for a supreme example of in talking about star player Wayne Rooney: "He is inexperienced but he's experienced in terms of what he's been through."
George W. Bush came second for "All I can tell you is that when the governor calls, I answer his phone."
Plain English Campaign spokesman Ben Beer said: "We thought it was a bit obvious to honor Bush as he comes up with them every day."
Every year, the pressure group hands out a raft of awards mocking incomprehensible jargon in a battle to clear the linguistic fog that so often envelops the English language.
Past winners include model Naomi Campbell, actor Richard Gere and former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
There is never a shortage of entrants sent in by people baffled by bureaucratic language and befuddled legalese.
"We get 40 to 50 examples a week, mostly from British documents. The media, including advertising and marketing, is riddled with insider jargon," Beer said.
Offering the best way to obliterate meaningless verbosity, Beer said: "Thinking before you write is the main thing and then re-reading what you have written."
That message clearly fell on deaf ears at Coleraine railway station in Northern Ireland.
The station sign read: "Every autumn a combination of leaves on the line, atmospheric conditions and prevailing damp conditions lead to a low adhesion between the rail head and the wheel which causes services to be delayed or even cancelled."
London's Gatwick Airport got 10 out of 10 for brevity but came bottom of the class for clarity for one of its signs: "Passenger shoe repatriation area only."
The campaign was founded in 1979 by Chrissie Maher who only learned to read and write at the age of 14.
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(Agencies)
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本周二，“简明英语运动组织”年度“不知所云”大奖揭晓，前英格兰国家足球队主教练史蒂夫•麦克拉伦力挫美国总统布什，赢得这一“殊荣”。
麦克拉伦对球星韦恩•鲁尼的评价是最为经典的例子，令人“赞叹”。他说：“鲁尼经验不足，不过他对自己做过的事情还是很有经验的。”
布什总统“屈居”亚军。他的“获奖名言”是：“我想告诉你们，如果州长打来电话，我一定会接。”（译者注：布什访问发生火灾的南加州，在回答有关应急救援的问题时说了这句话。）
“简明英语运动组织”的发言人本•比尔说：“我们原以为布什总统夺冠的可能性比较大，因为他说错话可是家常便饭。”
为了消灭英语中经常出现的“云山雾罩”的语言，该“施压组织”每年都颁发一系列奖项，嘲讽各种让人摸不着头脑的晦涩言论。
历届“不知所云奖”得主包括名模纳欧米•坎贝尔、影星理查德•基尔和美国前国防部长唐纳德•拉姆斯菲尔德。
该组织经常收到人们“举报”的一些令人费解的“官话”和法律用语。
比尔说：“我们每周能收集到四、五十个这样的例子，其中大多数来自英国的官方文件。此外，广告、营销等传媒中也充斥着大量的行业术语。”
针对这个问题，比尔提出，最好的解决办法就是“提笔前慎重思考，写完后再三通读”。
而北爱尔兰的科勒雷恩火车站显然没有做到这一点。
该火车站的一个告示牌上写道：“每到秋天，铁道上的落叶、大气状况和潮湿的天气使火车头和车轮间的粘附力减小，导致火车延误或取消。”
而伦敦加特维克机场是做到了百分百的“简要，但是在“清楚”方面却是最差的了。该机场的一个告示牌是这样写的：“乘客鞋遣送专用区”。
“简明英语运动”组织成立于1979年，其创始人克里西•马赫在他14岁时才开始识字。
（英语点津姗姗编辑）
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