Abstract
The word ‘plain’ in its original sense just meant ‘flat, smooth’. In the thirteenth century, it also gained the meaning ‘evident’. And from the fourteenth century on, ‘plain’ has been used in the way we understand it in the term ‘plain language’: to refer to something simple, clear, and obvious without superfluous ornamentation:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plain and http://www.etymonline.com/index.
Download the full article
Visit the EMWA website
Search
Articles
Member Login
Links
Editoral Board
Editor-in-Chief
Co-Editors
Managing Editor
Victoria White
Deputy Managing Editor
Alicia Waltman
Associate Editors
Section Editors
Biotechnology
Digital Communication
EMWA News
Gained in Translation
Getting Your Foot in the Door
Good Writing Practice
Alison McIntosh / Stephen Gilliver
In the Bookstores
Manuscript Writing
Medical Communications/Writing for Patients
Medical Devices
My First Medical Writing
News from the EMA
Out on Our Own
Pharmacovigilance
Regulatory Matters
Regulatory Public Disclosure
Teaching Medical Writing
The Crofter: Sustainable Communications
Veterinary Writing
Editors Emeritus
Lay out Designer
Chris Monk