SQL Puzzlement

The tortured SQL I find in production:

CASE WHEN ExtendedDescription is null
   THEN replace(replace(replace(MainDescription, '''', '`'), char(10), ';'), char(13), ' ')
   ELSE (replace(replace(replace(MainDescription, '''', '`'), char(10), ';'), char(13), ' ')
      + '(' + replace(replace(replace(ExtendedDescription, '''', '`') + ')', char(10), ';'), char(13), ' '))
      END as FullDescription,

A simpler way to express this:

FullDescription =
   Replace(Replace(Replace(
      MainDescription + Coalesce('(' + ExtendedDescription + ')', '')
      , '''', '`'), char(10), ';'), char(13), ' '
   ),

It's not just about the simplest way to express something, but also about how easy it is to read and see what it's doing.

Oddly enough I do put commas at the beginning of lines sometimes when expressions are very long. I'll never put commas at the beginning of a new column expression, though.