The Weltchek Weekly

“With every trip we work hard to earn your business and, most importantly, your satisfaction.”

So wrote United to its frequent flyers. Had the carrier written and, most important (not most importantly), my satisfaction would have soared. Flight delays, lost luggage, less leg room—why sweat the small stuff?

Most important is short for what is most important and is always the grammatically correct choice. You would never say what is most importantly.

The same goes for more important. It’s short for what’s more important. “We want you to join the company because you have everything we’re looking for in a candidate, but more important, you will be happy here.”

Importantly means in an important way. The candidate spoke importantly about the need for higher taxes and momentarily silenced the issue’s most ardent opponents. Even that doesn’t sound right; persuasively sounds better.

You can pretty much toss importantly from your everyday lexicon.