Infamously Colorful Handbags?
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- On March 27, 2019
This edition of Say It Better Say It Right comes from a news article about the fashion brand Kate Spade.
(Read More)
When to Dash: The Difference Between Commas, Parentheses, and Dashes in Punctuating Parenthetical—i.e., Extra—Information
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- On October 30, 2018
I’ve written many bulletins about dashes—America’s favorite punctuation mark—but today’s edition focuses on the overlap between a pair of dashes (like the ones I just used), commas, and parentheses. All three punctuation marks can be used to give readers extra information.
Let’s take that opening sentence. I could replace the...(Read More)
Empathy Is Key to Effective Communication—Writing Included
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- On October 17, 2018
“Communication doesn’t take place because you tell somebody something. It takes place when you observe them closely and track their ability to follow you.”
Alan Alda wrote that in his charming book If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on Face? My Adventures in the Art and Science...(Read More)
Fixating on Bad Grammar Is a Good Thing
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- On February 20, 2018
The stakes just got higher.
On the heels of last week’s post about the missing comma that cost a dairy company $5 million in back pay comes more vindication for grammar geeks. Slate, in an article about the indictments against 13 Russian nationals for meddling in the 2016 election,...(Read More)
Sounding Natural Is No Small Feat
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- On November 15, 2017
To market my writing workshops, I’ve produced a video. I was taped giving a one-hour lunch-and-learn session—new in my lineup of offerings—and then interviewed by my producer. How did you get started? she asked. What can companies expect when they hire you? And why should they choose you? Be...(Read More)
Always Know Your Purpose
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- On October 17, 2017
When Hervé Pierre, sometime stylist to First Lady Melania Trump, sits down to sketch, he asks himself, “Where is this woman going?”
“If you don’t have a purpose,” he told Vanessa Friedman, fashion director at The New York Times, “it’s just an idea on paper and the dress means nothing.”
The...(Read More)
Mind Where You Place Your Modifiers
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- On October 3, 2017
With an incredibly demanding schedule full of 13-plus-hour days, every effort is being made to maximize Secretary Price’s ability to travel outside of Washington to meet with the American people.
That was part of the statement put out last month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in...(Read More)
Credibility and Credulity; Imply and Infer
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- On September 26, 2017
After my last post—the one about ruby chocolate and the hyperbole-laced, credibility-straining press release that announced its arrival—a reader questioned whether credibility should have been credulity. These two words often get confused, and I’m relieved to say I used the right one.
Credibility means believability; credulity means gullibility. If...(Read More)
Pass the Chocolate, But Spare Me the Jargon
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- On September 13, 2017
News arrived this week of a new type of chocolate—ruby chocolate, or as its manufacturer puts it, Ruby (with a capital R). According to the company’s press release, the chocolate “satisfies a new consumer need found among millennials—hedonistic indulgence.”
I’m not a millennial, but I think it’s safe to say...(Read More)
Listen to What You Write
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- On July 26, 2017
The handsome man and I made some chitchat as we prepared for the meeting. Distracted, I dilly-dallied and ended up making a mish-mash of my presentation, so I ate a couple of Kit-Kat bars to console myself.
What am I talking about?
Nonsense, really. I’m just demonstrating the rule of ablaut...(Read More)