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.
Vocabulary:
foot-in-mouth:指“不知所云”；说错话
pressure group: 施压组织
be riddled with:very full of something bad or unpleasant（充斥着）
fall on deaf ears at:be ignored（被忽视）
