Hi everyone – welcome to another Favorite Words Friday. As always, we’re including some of our favorite words that we never have enough opportunity to use. Please leave your favorites in the comments below.
Vacuous – lacking intelligence, inane
Woebegone – exhibiting great sorrow
Pulchritudinous – physically beautiful (can you believe this one was submitted twice?)
Ineffable – indescribable
Ubiquitous – existing everywhere at the same time (don’t we all wish we could do that?)
Bumbershoot – an umbrella (my personal favorite!)
Incessant – continuing without interruption
Prolegomena – a preliminary discussion, prologue
Plethora – excess
Palindrome – a word or phrase that reads the same backward or forward
Thanks for your ... Read more »
Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.
One of my favorite quotes is: “Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.” – C.W. Ceran
To me, this sums up what makes a great writer – to be able to take a complex idea and translate it into a story that is both interesting and readable. In our Brilliant Ink writing workshops, we spend some time talking about how this basic concept can vastly improve your writing.
There are three ways to keep your writing simple:
Include only the most important information. As communicators, our clients (whether internal or external) usually think every piece of information is important and worthy of inclusion. It’s our job to sort through ...
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It’s time for Favorite Words Friday – holiday weekend edition! Since we’re heading into Memorial Day weekend (and the official start of summer!), I thought I’d include words that relate to what I’ll be doing and how I’ll be feeling this three-day weekend.
• Repose – peace, tranquility
• Harmonize – to bring into harmony or agreement
• Gambol – to dance and skip about in play
• Somnolent – drowsy
• Mellifluous – flowing sweetly or smoothly
• Indolent – lazy, inactive
• Jollification – merrymaking, revelry
• Badinage – light, playful talk
• Gadabout – one who roams about in search of amusement or social activity
• Satiety – ... Read more »
Here in New York City, concerns about swine flu have reached a fever pitch. Currently, 17 schools across the city are closed because of suspected swine flu cases, and an assistant principal died this week after contracting the H1N1 virus. Luckily, my son is not yet school-age, so this is just a minor distraction for me. But perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of this issue – at least for a word nerd like myself – has been the prominent role of language.
Early on, the term “swine flu” was used almost exclusively in news reports and government agency discussions on the topic. But this term brought a fair amount ... Read more »
Wow – what a week. I don’t know about all of you, but it’s been a long one here at Brilliant Ink. Before we unwind with a glass of wine, it’s time for some Favorite-Words-Friday fun. So, here are 10 of our favorite words that we never have enough opportunity to use. As always, please be sure to leave your suggestions in the Comments section below.
Feckless – weak, irresponsible
Malapropism – an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound (Joey from Friends was notorious for these – e.g. “a moo point – like a cow’s opinion”)
Jezebel – a morally unrestrained ...
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The frog design blog recently gave Brilliant Ink a nice-shout out, highlighting some research we did exploring how companies are using organized Twitter conversations as a tool to connect with customers.
Our research found that while smaller companies are taking the lead, large companies are beginning to recognize the power of Twitter. Last month, Pepsico hosted #PepTrends, an organized conversation around global trends. And Fast Company’s Marcia Connor hosts #lrnchat – a weekly 90-minute discussion about learning through the use of social media.
But our research also uncovered what NOT to do. Landrover hosted and promoted a hashtag conversation – #LRNY – to build buzz about their newest Landrover. To get things ... Read more »
Last week, I faced an enormous writing challenge – one of the most daunting I’ve faced in a long time. I had to write a speech for my younger sister’s wedding. I struggled for weeks to come up with the appropriate balance of genuine emotion, humor and storytelling. Thankfully, the speech was a rousing success, but the writing process got me thinking about what makes a really great speech.
Here are a few tips I’ve gathered over the years:
• There’s an old adage about public speaking: “Tell them what you’re going to tell them; then tell them; then tell them what you told them.” Believe it or not, that’s the ... Read more »
Here we are at the end of another week, and you know what that means – Favorite Words Friday! The suggestions keep pouring in so we’ll keep this going as long we continue to get new ideas. A special thanks to our blog readers and Twitter followers for the great submissions.
• Nebulous – indistinct, vague
• Smooch – in addition to kiss, it can also mean a smudge or smear
• Kerfuffle – disorder, commotion (a personal favorite)
• Malarkey – exaggerated or foolish talk
• Caper – leap or skip, also slang for an illegal act
• Bailiwick – a person’s area of knowledge or authority
• Cacophony – ... Read more »
Because some words are so overused, they become like white noise and add very little to our writing.
We recently came across a brilliant analysis conducted by blogger David Meerman Scott. He analyzed every press release distributed in the U.S. in 2008 and identified the top 25 most-used corporate clichés, which he calls “gobbledygook.”
Here are the top 10 words from Scott’s analysis:
1. Innovate
2. Pleased to
3. Unique
4. Focused on
5. Leading Provider
6. Commitment
7. Partnership
8. New and Improved
9. Leverage
10. 120 percent
I’m willing to bet all of you have been guilty of using these phrases at one time or another in your writing – I’ll admit I’ve overused a few of them myself! But as communicators, this analysis sends us a strong ... Read more »
Yes, it’s Sunday, but it’s been one crazy week. I hope no one is sick of Favorite Words Friday yet, because I keep getting great suggestions. Here are the latest favorites for your vocabulary-enhancing pleasure. Leave me a comment below if you’d like to add a word. Next installment to occur on a Friday, I promise!
· Paroxysm – a fit, attack, or sudden increase or recurrence of symptoms
· Copacetic – ... Read more »
