I know that this is completely off topic, but I wanted to share some video encouragement.
You’re not too old to do what you want–or too young, for that matter–and I have proof.
Follow the links to see an old (although she doesn’t seem it) and a young star in the making:
Read this with your best Knute Rockne voice: Now, go be the star you’re supposed to be!!
–Paul
A recent AOL article highlights Six Subtle Moves That Hold Women Back from Success, focusing on non-verbal communication in meetings. I always hesitate to turn this type of thing into a gender-based article. Surely, some of these techniques would benefit men as well.
Other than that, it’s an interesting read–and I know for a fact that they have some amazing writers on the AOL staff–just sayin’.
–Paul
We all know that the abbreviation TMI stands for Too Much Information, and we’ve all been around people who share too much personal information at work. A recent finance.yahoo.com article, You Did What? Spare the Office the Details, takes a look at this growing phenomenon at work.
I post it here as a reminder that one of the keys to effective communication is knowing what is appropriate to say at work. Believe me, tell people that you had to shave your entire body in order to wear lycra biking pants will, indeed, change the way people think about you–and not in a good way.
–Paul
I’m a meteorologist and author (Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities), and I know I’ve said it, but, technically, temperatures cannot be warmer or colder.
A temperature is a number, which means that it can be higher or lower, not warmer or colder. One hundred is not warmer than 20, and 20 is not colder than 100.
As far as the air is concerned, it is indeed warmer at 100 degrees than it is at 20 and colder at 20 degrees than it is at 100; however, the numbers themselves are either higher or lower. Therefore, technically, we should say that the temperatures are higher or lower, not warmer or colder.
–Paul
One of the things that I do for my “day job” is post a monthly writing tip on the Administrative Information Services (AIS) Web site, so I thought I’d highlight that here today: AIS Writing Tips.
Some of the information there duplicates what’s here, but much of it doesn’t.
–Paul
This is completely off topic, but I think it’s important.
In a country with religious freedom, there is a difference between religious holidays (even those celebrated by a majority of people) and national holidays (applicable to all citizens).
Easter is a religious holiday, and thanks to Frume Sarah for the reminder: Apparent Obfuscation.
Some people do not celebrate (and are not interested in) religious holidays; remember (and respect) that when greeting strangers (or acquaintances whose religious affiliation you don’t know) this weekend.
I just wanted to share an article I found when I searched for “convoluted language” today: Convoluted language leads to convoluted thinking.
Not only does it hit on one of this blog’s favorites (calling every problem an issue), it also touches on other examples of convoluted, indirect, or passive aggressive language. I know that the article is ancient in Internet time, coming from 2004, but it’s worth a read.
–Paul
A young woman, with a name that begins with an Mc, is sponsoring a Special Olympics charity event called McFest, and McDonald’s is putting up a fight.
Read the story in this walletpop article.
McDonald’s is hoping for an “amicable solution,” but “the law requires us to guard against third parties that infringe our trademarks and to take the necessary action to stop those infringements,” said McDonald’s spokesperson Ashlee Yingling. “We believe the mark at issue, ‘McFest,’ is similar enough to our brand name and McDonald’s famous family of ‘Mc’ trademarks that it’s likely to cause confusion under trademark standards and/or dilute our valuable trademark rights.”
Similar to the Oprah controversy I wrote about a few months ago (Oh, Brother Moment), this kind of stuff is ridiculous, or should I say McDiculous.
–Paul
Yes, access should be limited. What I’m talking about, of course, is limiting the word access to being used as a noun and avoiding its use as a verb.
Access has, in recent decades, become one of the many victims of the pretentious segment of the population, who consistently find the need to take perfectly good nouns and try to turn them into verbs for their own pretentious purposes. Much like the word impact, I can only assume that these people think that using a sentence such as I’m trying to access my files makes either them sound more important or the situation sound more dire than simply using correct English by saying I’m trying to get access to my files or I’m trying to gain access to my files or I’m trying to open my files.
If you want to ensure that you’re using access correctly instead of following some trend, then limit its use to a noun.
Sherry
We can’t live on language and grammar alone, so please let me share my exciting news with you. My weather book, Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities is available in bookstores (and online) now. I think that anyone who’s interested in the weather will enjoy it. For more weather information, stop by Cloudy and Cool.
While not a science-heavy book, easy-to-understand weather explanation is mixed with how the weather affects our lives, quite possibly in ways we’ve never thought of before, such as sporting events, health and home, and historic events. The book also separates fact from fiction as it relates to common weather beliefs and ancient wives’ tales. (A chapter-by-chapter outline is below)
Weather Whys can also be purchased in book stores (national chains and many independent bookstores), as well as through online book sellers:
For more information on the book, check out a few of the reviews:
Or, watch me talk about the book during my recent tv interviews:
Chapter-by-chapter outline:
Chapter 1: Bite-Size Morsels: Weather Basics
Chapter 2: It Always Rains in Seattle: Weather Myths and Misconceptions
Chapter 3: Weird Weather: Unusual and Surprising Phenomena
Chapter 4: From Our Forefathers to Hurricane Katrina: Weather History
Chapter 5: Field of Dreams: Sports-Related Weather
Chapter 6: What Does “Red Sky at Night” Mean?: Weather Wives’ Tales
Chapter 7: Plains, Trains, and Crops: How Weather Affects Transportation and Crops
Chapter 8: The Weather is Everywhere: Health and Home
–Paul
Paul Yeager's weather book
Paul Yeager's language book
Everything Language and Grammar 