If At First You Don’t Succeed…

I’ve noticed so many spelling errors in documents I read that I have concluded many people pay no attention to their spellcheckers.

Here are some words that all end with the same sound, “seed,” but can be separated into three categories:

SEDE—Only one English word ends with this: supersede.

CEED—Only three English words end with this: succeed, proceed and exceed.

CEDE—All other English words ending with the “seed” sound use this: intercede, precede, accede, etc.

I still encourage you to pay attention to the markings your spelling and grammar check programs make on your documents.

These Words: Weaselly, Superfluous, or Necessary?

Don’t be fooled by the cuteness.

Maybe

Perhaps

Appears

Seems

Possibly

At this time

In fact, depending on the context, these words could fit into any one of those three categories.

• If you honestly don’t know about a situation, it might be necessary to use one to give yourself some wiggle room and buy some time.

• If you are certain of the situation and you use one of those words, you are adding extra verbiage that serves no purpose. Cut out all deadwood.

• If your intent is to deceive and you use one of those words, you are being a word weasel. Avoid this.

 

Superfluous Words

 

 

© Judi Birnberg

I’ve taken the following list from Maxwell Nurnberg’s Questions You Always Wanted to Ask About English*

* but were afraid to raise your hand.

It’s good to be concise when we write; see if you can spot the redundancies in these sentences:

1. If all of us cooperate together, we’ll get somewhere.
2. It was the general consensus of opinion that war was inevitable.
3. He shook his fist as he rose up to speak.
4. He was guilty of a false misstatement.
5. He told ties, socks, shirts, and etc.
6. He must now realize the fact that we are no longer able to help him.
7. In my opinion, I think the situation has grown worse.
8. He carefully examined each and every entry.
9. He was miraculously restored back to health.
10. His score for 18 holes never exceeded more than 75.

(Mr. Nurnberg certainly could have thrown a few examples in using females.—JB)

What’s a Shebang?

  I had no idea. Of course, I knew the phrase “the whole shebang,” meaning the totality of an entity. But I never knew a shebang was a specific thing until the other night when I was watching a documentary about a group of archeologists excavating the Civil War site of Ft. Lawton, in Georgia. Those archeologists had to spend some nights on the site and set up their individual shebangs (small and uncomfortable). A shebang is a rustic shelter or primitive hut. Did you know that? Neither did I until I watched this somewhat tedious documentary. But I learned something because I watched the whole shebang.

Hilarious or Hysterical?

As I’ve written many times before, all languages change over time because of common usage. I’m sure you often hear people use the word hysterical to refer to something funny. That is common usage and will, in time, become a standard definition. For now, though, hysterical refers to uncontrolled and extreme emotion. Picture an audience of teenage girls in the 1960s seeing the Beatles: they were hysterical with excitement.

Hilarious simply means something extremely funny: I find most Mel Brooks movies hilarious. However, I manage not to become hysterical.

 

What Is Business Writing?

© Judi Birnberg

 

Somewhere, somehow, people in the business world got the idea that using everyday English for their written communications was just not professional. The simplest sentence turned into a Pronouncement From On High. It was taboo to write As we discussed yesterday. Writing As per our previous conversation/dialog yesterday…. was suddenly seen as elegant and professional. The Latin phrase and redundancy made it even weightier. Bravo for you, middle manager!

I spent over 20 years in the corporate world leading business writing seminars in which participants came to see this stilted and pretentious style of writing as an impediment to communication. I urged them to write as if they were speaking to the recipient sitting across their desk. No one speaks in that bureaucratic manner, so why write that way? Obviously, the corporations that hired me knew what I was teaching and wanted their employees to lose the jargon. I did my little part, but I am quite sure the pompous style still lives at many companies. Simple, straightforward, everyday English ensures that all recipients will understand the message. It saves time and money. Questions about intent are no longer necessary. Say what you mean, just as if you were talking to your audience face to face. Business writing is clear, direct, and concise. That’s all it takes.