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Can you hear me?

From Mixing Memory I came across this website that promises to evaluate your writing and tell you how your page or website rates according to three different measures. Here are the results for NWW:
  • Total sentences 704
  • Total words 8,653
  • Average words per Sentence 12.29
  • Words with 1 Syllable 5,813
  • Words with 2 Syllables 1,656
  • Words with 3 Syllables 787
  • Words with 4 or more Syllables 397
  • Percentage of word with three or more syllables 13.68%
  • Average Syllables per Word 1.51
  • Gunning Fog Index 10.39
  • Flesch Reading Ease 66.54
  • Flesch-Kincaid Grade 7.03
What it all means... The Gunning Fog score of 10.39 means that NWW reads just slightly higher than Time or Newsweek but not as lofty as the Wall Street Journal. The Fleisch score of 66.54 means that NWW is pretty readable. 60-70 is a normal score. The Flesch-Kincaid score of 7.03 means somebody in grade seven could read NWW. This I find hard to believe. Although I'm sure a brainy kid could do it, I'd be surprised if the average kid would make great headway. All in all, I'm pleased with the results. While I read some technical stuff from time to time, I try to dress it down when it comes to the blog. For one thing, I'm not impressed by people who load uneeded jargon into their texts in an effort to dress it up and sound more impressive than it is. I really do try not to use a five dollar word when a buck will do. When I do use terms I suspect will trip up anyone who does not read philosophy a lot, I try to include an explanatory link (usually but not always to the Wikkipedia). I want to share my interest in my subjects and I look to readability as one of the keys to achieving my aims.

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