Monthly Archives: January 2011

Mission statement fail

Posted on January 31, 2011 by

I’ve written my share of mission statements. I’ve lauded the “commitment to diversity” at companies where less than ten percent of the managers were diverse (one had a gay, Puerto Rican, female director and counted her three times), and talked … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

I must dash

Posted on January 28, 2011 by

I admit it—I use too many em dashes. I just—I don’t know—all right, I love them. It’s as if—in some indefinable way—they express the ebb and flow of my thoughts. Which—for some reason—I need to share with you. Should I … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations, Tips and Tricks | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Saying it with a bang

Posted on January 27, 2011 by

My thoughts on hyphens prompted an outpouring of reader complaints about another ubiquitous punctuation mark: the exclamation point. Back in my advertising days, I had a creative director who used to say (with a fruity, self-satisfied chuckle), “Using an exclamation … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Too much of a good thing

Posted on January 26, 2011 by

Once sprinkled sparingly, like saffron, on the risotto of business language, hyphens are now thrown around like handfuls of coarse salt. The major style guides agree that they should link  two or more words that serve as adjectives modifying the … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations, Tips and Tricks | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A four-word social media policy

Posted on January 24, 2011 by

Every organization now has a social media policy, and most of them boil down to the same thing: Don’t be an idiot. For some reason, companies feel compelled to spell out every form that idiocy might take. IBM’s guidelines include … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations, Tips and Tricks | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

And so he was hanged—or was it hung?

Posted on January 24, 2011 by

Here’s an elegant distinction: The word “hanged” refers specifically to a form of execution, while “hung” is used for any object suspended from above. The guilty man is hanged; the curtains are hung. Other  frequently confused terms include connote (imply) … Continue reading →

Posted in Tips and Tricks | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Nails on a blackboard

Posted on January 21, 2011 by

I googled “writing mistakes that make me want to stick needles in my eyes” and got the following. Would you agree?

Posted in Observations, Polls | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

What’s your name, little girl

Posted on January 20, 2011 by

I am amazed by the number of companies and publications that don’t know their own names. If a full-blown style guide is too much to hope for, how about a simple naming convention? Bingham does it right. The law firm’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Non-entities

Posted on January 19, 2011 by

As anyone who works at a law firm knows, employees who do not practice law are known as “non-lawyers” or “non-legal staff.” I can’t think of another industry that insults its support staff quite so thoroughly. Imagine if nurses and … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Strike down the music

Posted on January 18, 2011 by

Lily Tomlin once said, “I worry that the person who thought up Muzak may be thinking up something else.” I’m willing to bet they’re the force behind the following “innovations” on business websites: Auto-start music or video. Nothing makes me … Continue reading →

Posted in Observations, Tips and Tricks | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment