Tag Archive | online courses
Writing tip 13 – U.S. and UK – separated by the same language
George Bernard Shaw apparently once described Britain and the United States as two countries separated by a common language. Of course, many things have different names in U.S. versus British English, for example sidewalk to an American is a pavement to a Brit. Spelling also differs many times, such as color and colour, but the […]
My pet hates 14 – leaving out a crucial word to save space
There is a trend in writing, no doubt started on the Internet, to use incomplete sentences to confirm that an order has been dispatched, an installation has been completed or a product launched.
Writing tip 12 – was your grandmother a boy?
There is a common mistake in writing that can best be described by this hilarious generic example: “As a boy, my grandmother used to read to me.” Surely, your grandmother was not a boy, but that is how it comes across.
Writing tip 11 – a hyphen can change the meaning
For those of you who didn’t know it, London taxis are called black cabs. But what’s the difference between a black-cab driver and a black cab driver? Answer: the taxi driver is either just another driver of a black cab or a taxi driver who happens to be black. The hyphen makes all the difference.
My pet hates 13 – reinventing ourselves, such a cliché…
There was a time when companies would simply adapt to new challenges, people would leave one job for another and organisations would introduce a change to regulations without being pretentious about it. Nowadays, however, many companies, people and organisations say they reinvent themselves.
Evolving English – British Library tells the story
English is in a mess. New words are being invented and adopted every day, slang words are poisoning the language and spelling is variable. Sounds familiar? This complaint was actually made 300 years ago by one of the most prominent writers of the day.
My pet hates 12 – company meetings filled with clichés
Stephen Elop, the new CEO of Nokia, used a business cliché recently to describe the situation at the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer. In a memo to employees, he compared it to a man standing on a “burning platform”. For years I’ve been fascinated by the sort of clichés that dominate corporate speak, especially in meetings. […]
Writing tip 9 – keywords are key to understanding
People don’t spend much time reading a text today, they skim through it. I’ve mentioned this before and how we as writers need to catch their attention early, especially online. Your readers need signposts, or keywords, to help them grasp the message they’re about to take in or they may grow impatient and click you […]
My pet hates 11 – earlier today, later this year…
Journalists often write that something happened earlier this year/month/day, or that it’s expected to occur later this year/month/day, but the words earlier and later are usually redundant in this context. Worse, I suspect reporters are sometimes simply lazy.
Writing tip 8 – get to the point
Readers are all busy today. They don’t read online, they skim through websites. They want to know what’s in it for them. If they can’t find an answer quickly, they will move on. Are you about to write something? Don’t bore your audience with background in the introduction. Get to the point.
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