+44 (0)1273 732 888
Blog
Tactical mistake
Author : Catie Holdridge
Posted : 19 / 11 / 09
Share this:
We’ve all done it: accidentally substituted a similar-sounding but actually entirely different word for the one we meant to write.
And while no-one wants to be the person who does it (it could seriously undermine your credibility), for humour’s sake, we’re probably all secretly glad it happens occasionally.
Take one of the features of a 9 LED Eurohike aluminium torch (offered at an unmissable price with a recent purchase at Millets). Listed between ‘heavy duty aluminium construction’ and ‘3 x AAA batteries included’ we find ‘tactical on/off switch’.
Now that sounds fancy, doesn’t it? But really, whenever any of us make that strategic reach for the on/off switch, with the cunning plan of being able to see where we are going, aren’t we all tacticians in our own right?
Or could this simple, moulded, soft-rubber switch actually be better described as … tactile?
But then, this is a dangerous game to start.
Advice and tips (148)
Grammar (61)
Choose your words wisely (47)
Plain English (25)
Psychology and linguistics (22)
Uncategorised (21)
60-second fix (21)
Language abuse (21)
Reader-centred writing (16)
Punctuation (15)
Online and social media (15)
Technology (14)
Spellings (13)
News from Emphasis (13)
Jargon (12)
Podcast (10)
International issues (10)
Presentations and speeches (10)
Design and formatting (9)
Technical writing (9)
Report writing (9)
Letters and CVs (8)
Courses for companies (8)
Proofreading (7)
Customer relations (6)
Numbers and finance (6)
Quizzes (6)
Graduates (6)
Videos (5)
Literacy and education (5)
Development of English (4)
Twitter (4)
Legal writing (4)
Writing news stories (4)
Wordplay (4)
Advertising (4)
Style guide (4)
Email (3)
MCA (3)
Partners (3)
Team leaders and managers (2)
Pitches and proposals (2)
PDF downloads (2)
Conferences and exhibitions (2)
Editing (2)
FAQ (2)
Policies and procedures (1)
Learning and development (1)
Internal communication (1)
Artificial intelligence (1)
webinars (1)
Book reviews (1)
Writing for media (1)
Tutorial (1)
More topics