A friend recently told me that she was laying low until after New Year’s. Alarm bells went off in my head as I wondered, “Doesn’t she mean she is lying low?” Many of us are perplexed about the difference between lying low and laying low. The problem arises from a deeper confusion about the difference between lie and lay. In my book on […]
Lying Low or Laying Low? Read More »
[4-minute read] When I was in my 20s, I worked for a Japanese import/export company in San Pedro, California. My boss was the son of the founder, a solid, successful Japanese-American businessman. One day, he asked me to write a report on the sales prospects for an item they were planning to import. I asked,
How Long Should Your Emails Be? Read More »
[6-minute read] “I emailed him three times and he didn’t respond. What should I do?”“I know he doesn’t check his email frequently, but I don’t want to bug him with a phone call. What should I do?”“She gets over 100 emails every day. Should I call her instead?” These are the kinds of questions my
Email, Call, or Zoom? How to Decide Read More »
[4-minute read] An online film review gushes that This movie is imminently watchable. I suppose the reviewer meant that she was about to watch it but had not done so yet. Her watching was imminent, which means that it would likely happen soon. Or did she mean that the film was eminently watchable, in the sense
The In’s and Out’s of Eminently/Imminently Read More »
[4-minute read] Do you edit as you write? If so, your writing process might go something like this: Dear JohnA little voice in your head pipes up, “You can’t call him John! Call him Mr. Cuddy!”Another voice inside says, “OMG! You’re right! I need to change that!” So you change it to Dear Mr. Cuddy and continue, It
Managing the Inner Critic Read More »
