Welcome to the blog – advice, opinions and musings on how to make words work
Disappointingly, the good people at the Oxford English Dictionary have chosen not to name Documentese as their 2024 Word of the Year. But as their pick was brain rot, I'm calling that a close second. After all, one definitely leads to the other (or to whatever the...
There’s one critical problem with most articles and videos on ChatGPT. And it’s glaringly obvious to anyone who works in a sizeable organisation....
I faced a slightly awkward moment in a meeting recently. Some consultants were presenting their ideas to me, but I stopped them five seconds into...
A colleague had a bizarre experience recently. While browsing the website of a well-known electrical-goods company, she idly clicked the Get Help...
Some rules are made to be broken – even ones that I laid down just a few weeks ago. You know how I said recently that it's usually best to put your...
How much do big words and flowery phrases really impress our peers? A lot less than many people think, it seems. I've talked before about the...
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Have you ever wondered why you can never seem to get a document written until its deadline is looming? You might have been paralysed by writer's...
I confess that I can be a little paranoid at times. And never more so than when I'm sending important emails. It usually goes something like this....
A client contacted us recently while still recovering from a mild trauma. He was the head of risk at an investment bank and had just finished...
If you ever struggle with writing at work, take comfort in knowing that to do it at all should be impossible. In fact, the whole idea of...
Is your writing feeling a bit flabby and out of shape? Treat it to a one-month detox treatment by following these three rules. Get active The active...
Times are changing for local government. Staff numbers are falling because of budget cuts, the localism agenda means that councils will soon be...
Can you 'speak to' the issues? Hi Emphasis I love the e-bulletin and have a question for you: in US circles, and increasingly in UK contexts too, I...
[Important editor's note: this post was originally published in December. OK, on we go.] Seasons greetings, Rudolph here. It has come to my...
Is singular they OK? Dear Madam or Sir I have just discovered your excellent website and begun perusing some of your articles. In the one by Jack...
Blog reader Helen asks: Can I have some advice on how to use 'whether'? As in 'whether to write something' or 'whether or not to write something'....
Blog reader Annemarie asks: For a while now, I have been wondering whether I should write ‘I look forward to [doing something]’ or ‘I'm looking...
A quick question from blog reader Jo, who asks: I recently watched a television interview with David Cameron during which he used the term 'stadia'...
Blog reader Paul asks: I’ve seen ‘fast’ and ‘quickly’ used as though they were interchangeable. Is this correct?...
Blog reader Fritz asks: I realised just recently that I have been using ‘eg’ and ‘ie’ as though they were interchangeable, yet I have a nagging...
You’ve spent the past three or four years writing essays and reports, and now you're in your first professional job and ready to start writing...
It’s been a sorry start the year – and not only because of the endless rain. From Kanye West's full-page ad of contrition in the Wall Street Journal...
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