Regular pseudocode, formal specs close to programming (eg VDM language), and graphical stuff like Statecharts worked well in industry for a long time. Including for high-assurance systems where ambiguities lead to catastrophic failure. Middle option was advantageous where it was precise enough for tools to catch errors or prove properties. Any of these worked well enough and didn't look as weird as OP to average programmer.

Those are fairly established notations that...when hey first came out, weren't as obvious as they appear now.

It is unfair to expect that pseudo code notations be static at this point in history when new programming languages that look "weird" pop up all the time.