During a recent road trip across southern Utah, I passed a store with the name Rumma’ge. I assume that the owner wanted to stand out from the crowd (which was pretty small to begin with) and dress up her store name to “Rumma’ge” instead of the dowdy “rummage.” Unfortunately, her use of the apostrophe was […]
Rumma’ging through Apostrophes Read More »
There are two kinds of people in the world. I call them get to the point people and have a nice day people. Get to the point people want you to lead with your main point. They do not want you to wish them a nice day. In fact, they might not even care whether
“Get to the Point” People vs. “Have a Nice Day” People Read More »
In the endless hustle to get work out the door (or onto the email server) faster, it is easy to short-change the proofreading process. When we do this, errors follow. Here are a few tips: If you add a few words to your message after you’ve finished your main proofreading, read it again before you
When writing a business letter or email, don’t rush Read More »
Email misjudgments can land people in jail. Just ask James A. Brown, ex-Merrill Lynch executive who wrote in an email that Enron had “promised” that Merrill would get their money back in a suspicious Enron deal involving barges off the coast of Nigeria. According to the Wall Street Journal (10/23/10) “a possible turning point came
Emailing “Promise” Lands Enron Executive in Prison Read More »
Some common phrases are hard to tell apart. Here is a brief guide to a few common trouble-makers. Compared To vs. Compared With When making an analogy to something of an entirely different class, use compare to. He compared leading a company through recessionary times to steering an ocean liner through a storm. Compared to
