Gag me with a spoon! It's the Valley Girls!

Space Cadet, 19/05/2000

My friends at out-law.com have tried to make the info on the out-law site as easy to read as possible. Too many crusty lawyers talk like crusty lawyers, with all their stinking Latin chat – so OUT-LAW.COM tries not to.

But it occurs to me, sitting here on my cyber soap box with my cup of tea and my custard cream, maybe we're being just a bit too cocky. Maybe we're not getting through to everyone's way of speaking. Maybe this out-law site is not as easy to read if you are, say, a Valley Girl. Do you remember them? Those adorable, gum-chewing, Californian teenagers, with fantastic lip gloss and attitude to match, might find some of our site a little too difficult to follow.

Sharing that thought are the helpful kids at the Valley URL site (which is, like, totally bitchin'). This automatically translates any web site of your choice into Valley Girl speak. What better way to present a legal site to the MTV generation. Take a chunk from our OUT-LAW.COM disclaimer page, for example:

"The contents of these pages are copyright © Pinsent Masons 2000. You may download to a local hard disk and print extracts from this web site if for personal, non-commercial use."

This is arguably more presentable when your browser has been given the Valley Girl treatment:

"The contents of these pages are copyright © Pinsent Masons 2000. Like, duh! You may like, totally take to a local hard disk and print extracts from this dweebie hangout if for personal, non-commercial use. Like, duh!"

If Valley Girl speak is not for you, perhaps you find Ali G's parlance "digs your way hof bangin." Ali hasn't yet caught up with the Valley Girls' full page translation service (he's takun too many 'erbal remedies to do da wurk, me think), but he will help you out with any text entered into Da Ali G Translata. Check it out:

Hear me now! The contents of these pages is copyright © Pinsent Masons 2000. yous may download to ha local hard disk and print extracts from dis web site if for personal, non-commercial use.

Or, better still, for universal understanding, why not put the Valley Girl version into the Ali G translator?

"da contents of these pages is copyright © Pinsent Masons 2000. dig, duh. Boyakasha! yous may dig, totally take to ha local hard disk and print extracts from dis dweebie hangout hif for personal, non-commercial use. dig, duh!"

Who can have any excuse for not understanding what lawyers are talking about?