Lost credibility

Another reason to proofread before publishing:

Full story here.

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Grammar goodness

Since we’ll be discussing the 7Cs tonight, I thought it would be good to put up some links to help with completeness, conciseness, clarity, coherence, correctness and courtesy. Keep in mind that little details like correct grammar can go a long way in promoting and preserving your credibility!

• Conciseness: 20 phrases you can replace with one word
• Correctness: [infographic] Editing vs. Proofreading, Heavyweight Fight — Who will win this clash of the English language titans? from scribendi.com
• Clarity: 40+ tips to improve your grammar and punctuation
• Coherence: grammar.about.com’s page on Coherence — the author of the grammar.about.com was my first rhetoric professor, Dr. Richard Nordquist!
• for fun, theOatmeal.com’s 10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling

“nuke – you – lerr”

Here’s a fun article: 10 Words you Mispronounce That Make People Think You’re an Idiot. Here’s a few examples:

NUCLEAR
Incorrect pronunciation: nuke – you – lerr
Correct pronunciation: new – clee – err

ESCAPE / ESPRESSO / ET CETERA
Incorrect pronunciation: ex – cape / ex – presso / ex – set – err – uh
Correct pronunciation: ess – cape / ess – presso / ett – set – err – uh

OFTEN
Incorrect pronunciation: off – ten
Correct pronunciation: off – en

Any words you would add to the list?

Banished words for 2012

Each year Lake Superior State University composes its “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.”  These are words that are overused in everyday conversations or in the media. Some of 2012’s banished words or phrases include:

• amazing
• occupy
• thank you in advance
• the new normal
• ginormous

What do you think of this year’s list?  What words do you think should be/shouldn’t have been included?

Later in the term we’ll discuss why we should avoid using cliches and buzzwords in our professional communication.