People, Persons and Jargony Mush

Do you want your writing to be instantly transformed into a mucky mess of corporate and legalese-sounding jargony mush? Then be sure to use persons as the plural word for person. Whiz! Bang! You've got yourself something no one will want to read.

Source: Grammar Party [Dead link]

"A mucky mess of corporate and legalese-sounding jargony mush" perfectly describes much of the language in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, not least because of its frequent use of "persons". The Discipline uses "persons" 637 times, about twice as often as the ordinary word "people" (327 times). 

In preparation for General Conference in May 2020, the Advance Daily Christian Advocate provides instructions to delegates and visitors, prints reports from agencies of the church and provides the text of proposed legislation. Here we find 924 instances of "persons" but a marginally greater number of  "people" (1104 instances). Progress! 

"People" is a perfectly good word, people. Let's use it. 

 

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