FDR preferred simple, direct language.

>[President Roosevelt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/1944_portrait_of_FDR_%281%29%28small%29.jpg) in 1942 learned that Civil Defense authorities during the wartime blackout had posters printed for distribution that read: “Illumination must be extinguished when premises are vacated.” >F.D.R. thundered, “Damn, why can’t they say ‘Put out the lights when you leave.’ “ _________________________ **Source:** Humes, James C. *Speaker's Treasury of Anecdotes About the Famous*. New York: Harper & Row, 1978. 59. Print. _________________________ **Further Reading:** [Franklin Delano Roosevelt / FDR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt)