A nearby flag shop had a sign out front, encouraging patriotism and imploring passers-by to “show your colors.”
Next to the sign was a beautiful red, white, and blue flag.
ANOTHER WRITTEN GOOF
From time to time, I’ll call attention to a badly written or inadvertently funny piece of copy.
One recent example was this headline on an online business newsletter: CEOs Pour Over State of Our Business Survey Results.
MEDIA SINS, PART DEUX
My last post focused on media misuse of homonyms during recent coverage of flooding near my home. I noticed that many of the reporters who handled those stories also seemed to have a problem with geography.
I’ll freely admit to being a map geek. When other toddlers were drawing pictures of giraffes and clowns, I was carefully delineating the borders of the lower 48. Every time our family took vacations, I was the one who had the map on his lap and pointed out where we needed to turn. Facebook may be a diversion for most people, but I get lost in Google Earth.
A MEDIA MORTAL SIN
I’ve written about the all-too-common mistake of substituting a homonym for the intended word. (And if “homonym” isn’t triggering enough brain cells, it refers to those words that sound alike, but are spelled differently.)
Now, I don’t consider using the wrong version of a homonym a mortal sin – except when it’s done by someone in the media. Professionals should know better. During coverage of the recent flooding near my home, I saw several examples of writers and reporters referring to a barrier that holds back water as a “levy.” (At least they didn’t misidentify a dike as a “dyke.” We won’t even go there.)
WORD ERRORS THAT MAY CONTAIN HIDDEN TRUTHS
You’re no doubt familiar with the Freudian slip – that little misstep in language that’s said to reveal the truth you’re hiding. I take great delight in noticing mangled phrases from assorted places, and often wonder if those typos and errors are actually an online or printed Sigmund-style slip.
Take the blog poster who responded to somebody else’s contention with “I have no ideal.” May not have any values, either.
QUOTES MAKE THINGS “UNREAL”
Why do people choose to put so many things in quotation marks? I suspect that they believe wrapping a word or phrase in quotes somehow makes it more prominent or important, but it actually has the opposite effect.
MORE PRUFEREADINGS IS ALWAYS GOODER
Thanks to email and the many other technological innovations that are now available, we communicate much more quickly. And, in our eagerness to fire off another message, sometimes we forget to take our time and do the things that were the norm with more archaic technologies such as typewriters.
GETTING SOMEWHAT WEALTHY VIA EMAIL
John Stanton recently forwarded an email with an irresistible pitch. According to the sender, “all you need to do is buy the e-book I have written for just $1.50, read through it and follow the instructions and within a week you will have more than tripled your money!” John says he was tempted to buy … Read more
UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT – OR THE WORDS
In a recent blog entry, I mentioned an experience in which a client insisted a word that I used really didn’t exist. After writing that, I remembered writing a brochure for an apartment developer, in which I mentioned that the centralized recycling program would “minimize the project’s environmental impact.” “OH, NO!” the client’s manager yelled. “It should … Read more
A COMPLEMENT OF COMPLIMENTS
Rarely have I encountered clients who become furious over word choices, but it does happen. I was working on an ad for a company in human resources, and used the phrase “to complement your staff.” Upon reviewing it, the client changed the largest word in that sentence to “compliment.” I changed it back, and the client took a vertical leap into his ceiling.