want

ENDEAVORING YOU TO ENDEAVOR ME

Remember when Cheap Trick serenaded Budokan with “I endeavor you to endeavor me/I desire you to desire me”? No, you don’t quite remember the lyrics sounding like that?   Why did Robin Zander and company sing “I want you to want me/I need you to need me” instead of the substitutions in the last paragraph? … Read more

YOU WANT A BETTER WORD?

When FDR spoke about freedom from want in his 1941 State of the Union address, he was talking about the concept, not the word itself. However, I’ve noticed that many people — particularly in the business world — have a very real aversion to “want” and an apparent need to be free from it.

I’m not sure why people are afraid of such a simple word. My only guess is that they’re focused on its more negative contexts, or that they find it too simple and folksy to serve intelligent readers. In most cases, though, it’s the ideal verb for the situation.

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I ENDEAVOR YOU TO ENDEAVOR ME

Remember when Cheap Trick serenaded Budokan with “I endeavor you to endeavor me/I desire you to desire me”? No, you don’t quite remember the lyrics sounding like that?

 

Why did Robin Zander and company sing “I want you to want me/I need you to need me” instead of the substitutions in the last paragraph? Heck, “want” and “need” are short, boring words. They wouldn’t impress anyone, would they?

 

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