Words--Phrases--Sentences
« Previous Entries“Phraselator” Helps LAPD Break Language Barrier
Friday, August 15th, 2008The Phraselator is a rugged over-sized PDA with a speaker and a hefty amount of storage for audio. Multi-lingual officers translate and record standard issue police commands, the Miranda rights, and questions in roughly 224 different languages. The device has been found particularly useful in Los Angeles which has a […]
Lose the Office Jargon, It May Sunset Your Career
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008Most people will remember from childhood that it is the buzzwords and in-jokes that help define us as a group." Millennial jargon, according to research . . .
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Say What’s Matters to Them, Not You
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 After a few months mired in the maze of corporate communications, I’ve renewed my campaign against a particular, chronic communication tic. This one isn’t new, but familiarity doesn’t render it any less fatal.
We begin with an anecdote . . .
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Six Ways to Instantly Find the Right Words
Monday, August 4th, 2008Have you ever known what you want to say, but just can’t figure out how to say it? It’s certainly worth the extra effort to get it right, because the how will make the difference in the way your what is received and acted upon.
Some people are never short of words. Personally, […]
At the End of the Day, These Words Don’t Work
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
Stephen Shivinsky of Farmington Hills writes: "Your recent column on the word ‘utilize’ inspired me to share a list of banned words and phrases I have compiled for my staff.
As the corporate communications staff, we are writing and editing every day, including senior-management memos and presentations.
Inevitably, one or more of the following appear, and we […]
Define and View Relationships Between Words with Visuwords
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008Website Visuwords defines and displays relationships between words in a fast and effective graphical map of meaning.
When you first search for a word with Visuwords, you’ll see the word pop up in the center and nodes pop out from there for each meaning of the word. Each of those nodes will […]
Test Your Word Power
Friday, June 6th, 2008 Are you confident in the size of your vocabulary? Do you know what addlepated means?
Put your vocabulary to the test here.
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Let’s Hear It for the Pun
Friday, April 11th, 2008By definition a pun is “a play on words.” The “play” may be on the sound of a word or the similarity of a phrase to a well-known saying. Sometimes the pronunciation being played on is a stretch and deserves a groan, but sometimes the relationship is extremely apt and deserves the reward of an […]
Verbal Evolution: The More You Say a Word, the Less Likely It Will Change
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007As languages evolve, they tend to lose irregular forms of words. Oddball past tenses of irregular verbs morph into the regular form. In English, that means forming the past tense by appending "ed" to the root word as in "finish/finished." Linguists suspect that the more frequently an irregular form is used within a language community, […]
Serve or Serviced–Which Do You Prefer?
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007My friend Margaret sent me an amusing sentence from an email she had received from a car rental company. Here is the sentence, from which I have eliminated the company’s name to maintain its good reputation:
Our car rental company values you as a customer, and we look forward to servicing you again in the future. […]
