I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and for those who celebrate, I’m wishing you a happy Hanukkah.
Should I have capitalized the word happy in both instances?
No, happy (lowercase h) is correct because it’s part of a sentence. Had I made Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah standalone... (Read More)
I recently walked through a school district where I came across a street sign asking me to kindly turn off my phone.
Kindly turn off my phone? Does that mean I should refrain from beating it with a stick?
People may think kindly is extra polite—but it’s not. It makes... (Read More)
I saw an ad for a new at-home gym that promises me “personalized guidance with every workout.”
The word guidance gave me pause. It sounds weird. Guidance is what the CDC issues about navigating the pandemic. It’s what companies tell their shareholders about upcoming earnings. It’s the advice college counselors... (Read More)
We’ve reached an incredible milestone. We’ve made incredible progress. I’m incredibly proud of the team.
That word crops up everywhere, which I find amusing because incredible means something is too improbable to be believed. (Haven’t you ever said, “I don’t find that credible”?)
Yes, incredible has a secondary meaning, which... (Read More)
As you can imagine, when I send out my posts, I get a lot of out-of-office replies. More often than not, the messages say the recipient is currently out of the office until a future date, which doesn’t make much sense.
Would you say, “I’m out of the office at the... (Read More)
If I can’t picture it, I can’t understand it.
Albert Einstein, the physicist who developed the theory of relativity, said that. The Nobel prizewinner had a point. It’s easier to grasp something if you can visualize it, which is why it’s important to write in language you can see.... (Read More)
Driving double-digit growth, driving innovation, driving good health outcomes—these are commonplace ways the business community uses the verb drive.
If you look up drive in the dictionary, you’ll find eight definitions with usage examples as diverse as driving cattle across a prairie (to prod), driving a hard bargain (to carry... (Read More)
Did humans evolve from apes?
That’s a legitimate question and a legitimate use of the word evolve, which means to develop gradually.
Too often in business, however, companies use evolve to describe some sort of change, instead of just saying they’ve improved or updated whatever it is they’re changing.
Our stores offer curbside pickup, bringing even more convenience to your visit, read the email from a favorite retailer.
Is convenience something you bring? And how exactly would you bring it to a visit?
I had a similar thought when Facebook said they’re bringing more transparency to their political ads.... (Read More)
Anthony Fauci—God bless him—was talking the other day about the new, stronger variant making its way around the world and how to stem its spread. Get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible was his message.
“The less people that get infected, the less chance you’re going to give... (Read More)
