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| Bette Frick
The Text Doctor®
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| Quote of the Month |
Everything must be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.
Albert Einstein
1879-1955
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The not-so-big sentence!
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The Text Doctor's Diagnosis
July 2009 |
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Greetings!
Tips in this newsletter will help you be the best writer you can be. All of us can improve our communication skills, both written and oral. Thanks for reading these suggestions!
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How current are you? Do you know all the new words in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary?
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American English is considered by many to be a dynamic language because we continuously add and drop words from our lexicon (vocabulary). Every year, Merriam-Webster highlights 100 new words now recognized in their dictionary. Some words, such as frenemy (1977) and acai (1868), have been used for many years but have recently been recognized as being common enough to gain currency in the dictionary itself. Others, like staycation (2005) and locavore (2005), are very recent and creative additions.
"Many of the new words address concerns about the environment (carbon footprint, green collar), government
activities (earmark, waterboarding), health and medicine (cardioprotective, locavore, naproxen, neuroprotective), pop
culture (docusoap, fan fiction, flash mob, reggaeton), online activities (sock puppet, vlog, webisode), as well as several
miscellaneous terms such as haram, memory foam, missalette, and zip line," according to the m-w.com article about the new words.
I'm embarrassed that I have never heard of some of these words (reggaeton, haram, zip line) and sad that I've heard way too much about others (earmark, waterboarding, flash mob). I've been playing with my grandkids' sock monkey, and I'm wondering if a sock puppet is next in our repertoire of toys? I hope not! Although the term was first used in 1959, a more recent meaning is "a false online identity used for deceptive purposes."
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Got Plain Language?
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The term "plain language" sounds pretty blah, but the movement itself is deeply significant if you care about language.
Here's an example of the concept of plain language applied to a government statement (thanks to plainlanguage.gov for this example):
Before: If the location of the land is in a state other than the state in which the tribe's reservation is located, the tribe's justification of anticipated benefits from the acquisition will be subject to greater scrutiny.
After: If the land is in a different state than the tribe's reservation, we will scrutinize the tribe's justification of anticipated benefits more thoroughly.
According to plainlanguage.gov, "the current
plain-language movement had its start in the 1970s when
the federal government encouraged regulation writers
to be less bureaucratic." For almost 40 years, various agencies have applied the principles of plain language to their documents (see amazing examples of before-and-afters).
Now, a bill introduced in the House in February 2009 will extend the movement if passed. To learn more about this bill, link to the site listed above and register to receive information about the progress of the bill.
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For fun: Join me in The Word Police
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 My most recent certification: The Word Police
are looking for a few good people who can be certified to issue Grammar
Citations when they see or hear crimes against the language. Take the entrance exam at The Atlantic website; watch for redundancies in the quiz. Here's hoping you can join me in this earnest endeavor! Won't this look impressive at your next performance review? My thanks to Chris Back for alerting me to the Word Police! |
These are a few of my favorite things: Six-Word Memoirs
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Do you need a new, better addiction to replace one of your tired old ones?  Pick up a copy of Smith Magazine's Six-Word Memoirs; each concise statement projects a surprising amount of emotional energy in six words: - "Young, skinny, ridiculed. Old, skinny, envied." (p. 67)
- "Many hands have kept me afloat." (p. 99)
- "I write because I can't sleep." (p. 110)
- "Used to add. Now I subtract." (p. 220)
I'm warning you: You could spend hours reading these. What's worse--you might even start writing them! Where did this mania start? In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway is rumored to have accepted the challenge to write a story in six words. He won the bet: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." (p. v) My current favorite: "Dam smart--never lerned to spel." (p. 159) |
Thanks for reading! I'm looking for a few good editing clients; view my editing capabilities statement on my website to see how I might help you avoid the kinds of mistakes I point out in this newsletter.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth (Bette) Frick
The Text Doctor®
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New
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The not-so big sentence
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The Not-so-big Sentence webinar will help you structure and streamline your sentences so that your reader can understand your message quickly and completely--and act on it.
Visit www.textdoctor.com/webinars
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