I'm editing a book that is heavy on jargon. One of my jobs is to get the jargon out or at least keep it down to a readable level. One author (it's written by a bunch of people) insists on using the word ombudspeople in an effort, I suppose, to be politically correct and avoid using ombudsmen. I simply can't stand the world ombudspeople. It makes me grind my teeth whenever I read it, but I can't think of an acceptable substitute. Ombudsmen doesn't offend me, but it clearly offends the author. Any suggestions while i still have any enamel left on my molars?
Cringing at a word
- Thread starter Tish Davidson
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Not quite. The ombudspeople were two people the staff could take their complaints about management to and the ombudspeople would investigate to see if the complaints were warranted. They weren't chairing or running anything, but were serving kind of as an watchdog for the concerns of the staff.
Bum, I didn't read the 'editing' part of your first post. I assumed you were asking for words that ticked others off. ARGH.
Time for me to get some sleep I think.
Time for me to get some sleep I think.
Advocate is a possibility. I could call them staff advocates maybe. Whatever, ombudspeople has got to go - and this stuff was written by people with Ph. Ds.
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You could use the original Old Norse word umbodhsmadhr 
I'd use ombuds and refer to the office.
The Ombuds office will help two parties find a mutually satisfactory solution.
I'd use ombuds and refer to the office.
The Ombuds office will help two parties find a mutually satisfactory solution.
I sometimes wonder why an organization needs ombuds"men" and comptrollers. more often than not, they are non-profit orgs or as we are wont to say now, just "nonprofits". Were they for-profit outfits, I suspect these purposes would be served with "yes-men" and "CPAs".
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