“Assaults on flight attendants have risen. NBA fans spit and dumped popcorn on players this spring. Last week, servers at a Massachusetts restaurant experienced customer behavior so rude that the owners closed for part of a day. The pandemic was thought to make some of us more enlightened. But did it just make everyone more […]
Of the many words that have been misused over the course of time, the word “obsessed” is being abused consistently now. Its meaning has drastically changed in everyday conversation recently, just as the meanings of so many other words continue to change. For example, if you watch home renovation shows, listen carefully and you will […]
Some things just tend to grate on the ears. A professional news reporter who responds to an interviewee’s statement with “yeah.” Someone who starts virtually every sentence with “So….” Maybe it’s just me. I know it’s not, though, since I’ve heard from other people with similar experiences of irritation and annoyance. Change is good but […]
How can words create a drastic drop in morale within a business or a panic situation in a community? Words carry the power to make things better, to make people more hopeful. They also carry the scary power of making a situation drastically worse. It only takes a few words from a few people in […]
More on nouns that became verbs Language is a funny thing. English, especially, can be very difficult to learn. And then it all changes! Words that we were certain were nouns, or things that are– message, text, calendar, dialogue–have morphed into verbs, or things that do. As in … I’ll calendar a date to dialogue with you on that […]
Who are you? How frustrating is it when people don’t pay attention when you attempt to communicate with them, either verbally or through written messages? A recent experience with someone who was providing a service to me — making me her client — proved very frustrating and was an excellent example of how appropriate communication […]
There are a lot of weak words in the English language. Sometimes they are good for softening bad news or for being subtle. However, some are just … well … weak. “Just” is actually one of those weak words, of course. The word “just” minimizes the importance of the rest of the message. Starting a […]
Ready for your grammar lesson? Ok, you probably don’t really look forward to celebrating Grammar Day every year (March 4). So, let’s just focus on some troubling contractions. Here are a few, easy things you might want to remember. Contractions can be confusing. Words like should’ve or could’ve only leave out a couple of letters […]
Have you ever heard someone say – or have you said yourself – “I could care less”? Good news! That really means you do care a lot! The phrase is actually “I couldn’t care less,” meaning you really don’t care at all. Of course, it’s better if you care more, but you should choose the appropriate phrase based on […]
Do you struggle with how to start an email or even a face-to-face conversation? A business writing professor in graduate school once drilled in the importance of starting any message with “you” or some similar reference to the other person. Why? Didn’t it catch your attention when this message started with a question about you? […]