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Newsletter, July 7, 2009
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In This Issue
...
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1. Quotation of the Week
2. Conversation Tip of the
Week
3. Word of the Week
4. Humor
5. More Goodies: Website
Reminder
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1. Quotation of the Week
"Never use a fifty-cent word
when a ten-cent word will do."
- Mark Twain
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2. Conversation Tip of the
Week
A recent issue of
Alert
Diver (as in scuba
diver), talked about
"avoiding
cramps in lower extremity." Huh? The phrase
stopped
me in my
reading tracks while I translated. "Oh,
that means leg.
It's about
avoiding leg cramps. Why didn't the writer
just say so?"
Maybe he wanted to appear
smart. Many a reader would say,
"He must be
smart, because I didn't understand a word
he
said."
William F. Buckley, Jr. supposedly had an
active vocabulary
of over
10,000 words, and I didn't understand most
of what he
wrote because
I didn't bother to translate. The rest of
us scoot
through life
on about 4,000 words, which are plenty to
make
your point
with a listener or
reader.
More words aren't better.
I'm not advocating--sorry, in favor
of--
expanding
your vocabulary unless you're studying for
tests.
Big words and
long sentences can get in the way of
your
message.
Here's a terrific example, an acid test:
A plumber wrote to the
Bureau of Standards saying that he
had
found
hydrochloric acid good for cleaning out
clogged drains.
The Bureau
wrote back," The efficacy of hydrochloric
acid is
indisputable,
but the corrosive residue is incompatible
with
metallic
permanence."
The plumber wrote back
that he was glad that the Bureau
agreed. The
Bureau tried again: "We cannot
assume
responsibility for the
production of toxic and noxious
residues
with
hydrochloric acid and suggest that you use
an alternate
procedure."
The plumber replied he
was glad that the Bureau agreed
with
him.
Finally, the Bureau wrote
to the plumber, "Don't use
hydrochloric
acid--it eats the hell out of the
pipes."
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3. Word of the Week:
obfuscate
(OB-fus-cate)
1a. Darken; b. to make
obscure <obfuscate the issue>
2. Confuse <obfuscate the reader>
intransitive verb: to be evasive, unclear,
or confusing
Big words and long
sentences can obfuscate your
message.
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4. Humor
It's
the classic public speaking dilemma. You've
got a captive but
inattentive audience and a message they
might need to know.
How far would you go to get their attention
for a required safety
speech? Would you get
naked?
Air
New Zealand came up with a cheeky plan to
get--and keep--
the attention of their cotton-eared
passengers. Watch what the
Kiwis (New Zealanders) did with a flight
crew, body paint, shoes
and a hat. Click
here:
Be
sure to watch the bloopers video,
too.
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5. Website Reminder: More
Goodies
Get
newsletter archives and articles and
tips for good conversation
at
www.QueenOfConversation.com
. (It's where you
signed up for
this newsletter.) You'll land on the page
that offers the 15 free
questions. Go to the bottom of that page
and click on "site map."
Zoom! You'll go inside where the goodies
are.
©
2009 Tracey E.
Bennett
All rights
reserved.
As always, I welcome
your comments, questions and
anecdotes.
Click here to return to Newsletters.