When I taught English some years back, a student asked me: “How do I know if my English is good?” I answered, “People can understand you.” I think this goes especially for writing. I’ve seen more bad writing than I care to admit. But here’s the thing: most people aren’t trying to write the great American novel. [...]
READ THE FULL POST5 Worst Business Buzzwords
April 14th, 2010 with View CommentsI’ve written before about overused business clichés. But what about all those business buzzwords? Well, I hate most of them too. There are two things I hate most: Using words that are utterly meaningless (non-words). inventing new words to replace perfectly good ones I could give you a LONG list of words that meet that [...]
READ THE FULL POSTAngry Letters In Defense of Self-Help Gurus
April 9th, 2010 with View CommentsSometimes I wonder where all the “fans” are. But at times, I do get some (most anonymous) e-mails protesting or I get some (anonymous) posting saying how wrong I am. Nothing wrong with being anonymous, but when I go to other blogs, I use my name. Because if I believe in something, I think you [...]
READ THE FULL POSTAre You Offended by Wankers?
March 2nd, 2010 with View CommentsDisclaimer: This post contains words that have a proven history of offending some people.. If, after reading this post, you suffer from hurt feelings or righteous indignation, I am not to be held responsible. You’ve been warned. Proceed with caution. Author and friend of the blog Steve Harper recently posted on his blog about people [...]
READ THE FULL POST5 Worst Business Clichés Ever
January 21st, 2010 with View CommentsOne of the worst jobs I ever had was translating a business proposal from Korean into English. Why? Because it was so laden with business jargon that I had no idea what the document was saying. And the words they were using were DIRECTLY borrowed from English. And when I asked the writer what he [...]
READ THE FULL POSTWhat the Notorious BIG Can Teach You About Sounding Smart
January 12th, 2010 with View CommentsOne day a man was talking to his co-worker at his office. They talked about many things, but inevitably the subject of work came up. You see, each man worked in different departments and had different bosses, and they liked to talk about the latest goings-in. One man said to the other, “My boss is [...]
READ THE FULL POSTVerbal Power: Figuratively and Literally
January 6th, 2010 with View CommentsOne way we get ourselves into deep poop is to say the wrong thing to the wrong person. But what if it’s not intentional? I’m a big believer in the power of words. As a writer, I have told anyone who would listen that writing clearly affects the way people think about you. The same [...]
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