I wrote yesterday about false etymologies—all with an eye of writing this post today. I use the word stakeholder a lot in project approaches and cover letters. I'm referring to anyone with an "interest" in the project, financial or otherwise. I'll often modify the noun to fit: "community" stakeholders, "key" stakeholders, "internal" stakeholders. A lot … Continue reading On “stakeholder” and my preferred (but false) etymology
Category: Wordplay
On the frustration and lure of false etymologies
People are always surprised to learn that dictionary editors aren’t strict grammarians, the unbending defenders of some frozen version of the English language. I was, too, when I started working my marketing job at Oxford Dictionaries. The editors’ motives were far more documentary than I’d expected. They loved words, and respected the odd ways that … Continue reading On the frustration and lure of false etymologies
On the struggle with ‘x’ in alphabet content
Part of life with little kids is alphabet content. The alphabet is a key element in early literacy, so it makes some sense that authors and toy-designers stuff it in anywhere it might fit. But this surfeit of alphabet content can feeling a little overwhelming. Plus, there's the issue of 'x.' Yes, 'x' is in … Continue reading On the struggle with ‘x’ in alphabet content
On the etymology of career
Some etymologies hold a suggestive observation about the word's present-day use, where the word holds meaning under the surface, the shape dimly visible—if at all—from the surface. The etymology of career hit me this way. The Online Etymology Dictionary outlines it this way: 1530s, "a running (usually at full speed), a course" (especially of the … Continue reading On the etymology of career
On words to avoid in architecture writing
Having written over 200 project narratives in the past seven years, I feel in the position to offer some advice on writing them. For this first post on the topic I’ll start simple—a list of words to avoid (or limit your use of). Because I don’t want it to seem that I’m only criticizing the … Continue reading On words to avoid in architecture writing
On email sign-offs
I don't remember how I signed off emails at my first job. I remember for my second job, though, because I aped my British colleagues and went with "Cheers." Cheers struck me as an inordinately delightful sign-off for business emails, but I loved it. At my next job, though—having no British colleagues—my Cheers felt a … Continue reading On email sign-offs
What’s in a job title, anyway?
About a year and a half ago, I had an interesting discussion with my boss. He wanted to give me a promotion—woo!—but there was one catch: he didn't know what my title should be. Rather than tell me my title, he wanted me to think about it and then discuss it together. This struck me … Continue reading What’s in a job title, anyway?
You can’t get away with vagueness and nonsense in writing
In conversation you can get away with all kinds of vagueness and nonsense, often without even realizing it. But there's something about putting your thoughts on paper that forces you to get down to specifics. —Lee Iacocca I've always been impressed by people who can speak in paragraphs. You know, the person who can reel … Continue reading You can’t get away with vagueness and nonsense in writing
Getting tired of “times like these”
In the past several weeks, I've had to do quite a bit of what I think of as "big picture" writing. "Big picture" writing is writing—usually in someone else's voice—where you step back from the everyday, take the pulse of things, and then attempt to say something about it all that is general but also … Continue reading Getting tired of “times like these”
Thinking about “through lines”
When plotting out the bigger pieces of content in my job, I love talking about through lines—the strands that weave through a proposal or an interview presentation, the recurring motifs or differentiators that draw readers or attendants from start to finish. Looking up through line in the OED, I discovered that the origin of the … Continue reading Thinking about “through lines”
Taylor Coe 