Thanks to poor Pluto’s recent declassification as a planet, the American Dialect Society — an organization founded in 1889 that “is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by” — picked “plutoed” as its 2006 Word of the … Read more
In the US, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In spirit of celebrating our world’s uniqueness, we look at how people read or hear a word and understand it differently than originally intended. Many words contain multiple definitions, and sentences provide the context. A simple example: My daughter was watching a fashion reality show … Read more
A person or a business can do everything right and still struggle to move to the next level simply because it doesn’t stand out from the crowd. Sam Horn opens with a great example of this from American Idol. Judge Simon Cowell told an eliminated contestant, “You have a good voice and you’re a nice … Read more
In 2000, I wrote an article about Internet and tech terms for Webreference and followed up with others. I revisited the capitalization of Internet, email vs. e-mail, and e-words. Reading WebMarketCentral Blog’s entry (including this one that’s mentioned) motivated me to visit the topic again. The No. 1 rule remains: consistency. No one will get … Read more
I love brainstorming ideas for a new company name. I guess you could call me a name freak. 🙂 Every case is different, but here are the basic tips I tend to follow when hunting for inspiration: * Randomly flip through the dictionary. * Take words and mixing or subbing letters. * Say names out … Read more
A professor I work with at NYU asked me about i.e., etc., and e.g. and when to use which. First, to make it easier to remember which one means what, here’s what they mean: i.e. – that is (stands for id est from Latin). You can also use it to substitute, “in other words.” etc. … Read more
Need quick content about your business that sounds like you took your time to craft? Let the Corporate Gibberish Generator do the work for you. Al you have to do is enter your company name and click “Generate.” Ta da! Look at this amazing paragraph it created within seconds (before you read it, double up … Read more
Sometimes I’ve felt like an idiot while reading a report or article. I’d read it… then read it again and think, “I don’t get it. What was that about?” When this happens, take comfort knowing that it’s not you. It’s the author. Most of us have caught on to corporations’ bull. My favorite: When they … Read more
That guy is hot! That guy is cool! Hot and cool are opposites, yet they mean the same thing when talking about that guy. My Polish grandmother is going to polish her silverware. Amazing what a difference a capital P makes. The knight rides at night in the rain and gets pneumonia. Here we go … Read more
We encounter politics in our lives daily, and it’s not just the kind we see in Washington, DC. It’s handling delicate situations in just the right way with the right words and the right actions to avoid making it worse or more uncomfortable. It can be a simple case of the harried volunteer who can’t … Read more