Maybe it's the newly chilly air, or the dwindling daylight, or the thrilling prospect of costumes and candy. Whatever the reason, each autumn brings a harvest of seasonal neologisms, word blends, and commercial coinages as colorful as the falling leaves.  Continue reading...

If you write copy, have you ever had to "make up" quotes for your boss? This is not such an unusual thing in the world of corporate communications. Bosses are busy and they often don't have time to be interviewed by their own PR or public affairs person.  Continue reading...

"Lets Go!!"

That's what appeared on the recently unveiled Old Navy SuperFan Nation college-football T-shirts. Yes, the second exclamation point is wholly unnecessary, but it's the missing apostrophe that really chaps my hide. And not just mine!  Continue reading...

In theory, advertising copy doesn't need to be elegant or even eloquent: its job is to make us pay attention and take action. But should it adhere to generally accepted rules of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and syntax?  Continue reading...

I've got a problem with solutions. Well, it's not solutions, per se, but the word "solutions." Actually, it's not even the word "solutions"; it's the notion that all you have to do is throw that word onto your home page and the world will beat a path to your door.  Continue reading...

I was invoicing a client recently and realized I didn't have his address. I'd worked for him only briefly, by email — we'd never even spoken by phone — but I knew his group had a website. Quickly, I Googled him to find the "contact us" page and, fortunately, it contained his street address. Better yet, the site was beautiful — it featured gorgeous photography and was easy to navigate.

But there was one big problem.  Continue reading...