[Xenalyte]

Orwell's Rules, By Which Xena Lives:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

[Yardstick]

Another one along those lines is to use good old Anglo-Saxon words instead of Latin derived words if you have a choice, which in English is fairly often, because they tend to be earthier and more direct. According to Ronald White in his book The Eloquent President, this is something that Abe Lincoln did and is part of what makes his writings and speeches so good.