One word or two? The “Horribly Wrong” team really needs to crack down on these goofs.
Again: That for things. Who for people.
Remember: “Less” for volume, “fewer” for count. So, less beer, but fewer seats.
Climb to the peak and take a peek and you’ll find something that will pique your interest.
Prevent means you help make sure someone else doesn’t drown. This story was about you making sure you don’t drown. The right word then would be avoid.
This STILL is five hundred dollars dollars. And these guys knew it by the time they got to the second stack.
What a mess! A retiree is going to help preserve your retirement assets? No. But wait! There’s more. You don’t preserve assets from a recession. You protect assets from a recession. And no comma after “recession.” And all those capitalizations! This company might want to consider strategies for hiring an editor.
.And we go to the video archives for Segment 48: More questions of style. https://youtu.be/VrE6aHhLHqE
Readers: Our July 16, 2023, segment on euphemisms drew responses from some loyal readers.
David Barak wrote:
“It's not a proper breaking of the nighttime fast without shredded, surface-fried starchy tuber. What were you thinking?
(Hash browns. Natch.)
Dr. Baruch Kahana wrote:
“I have several “favorites”: Powder room - which goes back to the days when women powdered their faces, for some unknown reason. Restroom (rest room?). Bathroom (bath room?) - which, most of the time is not used for bathing. WC, or water closet.
“Notice that the above euphemisms are employed to avoid talking about something unpleasant, namely, the excretory functions. (If we knew some Latin we could use “excretorium”. But who knows Latin?)
“Also, ‘passed away’ instead of ‘died.’ Again, avoiding an unpleasant topic.
“A while ago I heard someone say, ‘He lost his parents in the Holocaust.’ My response: ‘No. His parents were murdered by very evil people. He should not be the subject of that sentence.’ Yet another example of people wishing to avoid an unpleasant subject. Human life contains many unpleasantnesses. They should be addressed head-on, without obfuscations. We should not try to BS our way around them.”
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we properly can credit you. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!