Communicating 101:Taking Liberty with Language
By Craig S. Galati
How are you?
K U
Good, what are you doing?
NM wot up
Trying to get some work done. How’s your brother?
K
Thanks for being so talkative today.
W/E K lol
This is a typical text message sequence between my 14-year-old son and me. Thank goodness that I have a text message dictionary. While I don’t mind communicating with him this way, it does make me wonder if the art of writing will disappear with the next generation. Will the next generation be able actually to construct a sentence? Perhaps, but one thing is for sure: text messaging has created a new language. I just hope that our society doesn’t lose the ability to communicate through writing.
Today, in business, much of our communication is still through the written word. While we may use e-mail, instant messaging, and texting to communicate during the business day, these media do not give us license to forget the correct use and spelling of words.
Even though the tone is more conversational, the proper use of punctuation and grammar is still important. Here are some of my pet peeves regarding written language:
Moot vs. mute. A point is moot (not important or relevant). A person can be mute (can’t speak). Issues are rarely mute unless they involve being unable to speak.
Due diligence vs. do diligence. Due diligence is a practice whereby reasonable steps are taken to investigate something. It is used mostly in the context of buying or selling something. Do diligence is an action oriented phrase that really doesn’t make any sense.
Orient vs. orientate. One can orient a building on its site. One can orient one’s self to an issue. Although recently accepted as a substitute for orient, orientate is really not correct.
Sit vs. set. People, animals, and some things have the ability to sit down, sit there, or sit awhile. It takes an action to set something down. We can certainly sit and talk for a while, and you can set a cup on the table next to us. But we won’t set down to talk.
Definitely vs. defiantly. One would presume that there is a large difference between being sure (definite) and being rebellious or uncooperative (defiant). Imagine if your boss thinks you are being uncooperative when you were really telling him you were positively sure about something.
Conscious vs conscience. When one is aware of something, mindful of a situation, or awake he is considered conscious. A conscience is one’s inner voice. We can be conscious of our conscience, however.
Its vs. it’s. These are some of the most misused words in the English language. “Its” is possessive where “it’s” is a contraction for “it is.” These are difficult words to use correctly. I was taught to say the contraction out loud as “it is” to make sure the sentence makes sense.
Writing is very important in business if we want to communicate effectively. Take the same time and care composing everything you write, even if it is an e-mail, instant message or a text.
I’d like to hear from you:
– Do you have other examples of language mistakes?
L8TR. ROFL.
Craig
August 11th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I agree with your concerns for the next generation. I’ve also noticed that proofing has become a dying art. The quality of written correspondence being produced and presented can be very embarrassing if no time is taken to review it. I would like to add and define a few more words to your list.
Principal vs. principle. A leading person is a principal that enforces the principles (general or fundamental laws) of his/her organization.
Affect vs. effect. Affect is used as a verb (a is for action). Effect is used as a noun (to cause to happen, result).
Insure vs. ensure. Both are verbs; however, insure is to provide or obtain insurance while ensure will guarantee.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Well said - er, I mean, well written.
IMO, one mistake which is akin to hearing fingernails on a chalk board, is confusing “there” (place or position) and “their” (belonging to). I see that a lot.
Along the lines of punctuation, I am always amazed to see people place a question mark at the end of a sentence, even though they aren’t asking a question. I don’t think the issue here is so much understanding proper use of punctuation, as much as it may be knowing how to properly phrase a question?
(Did you catch that? I did it just ‘their’…) LOL
August 11th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Oops.
“They’re” (shortened version of ‘They are’) vs. “Their” (possessive adjective)
This one is worse than There vs. Their
August 11th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
You can tell a lot about a person by the way they write. Spelling, punctuation, and even the structure of paragraphs gives us an insight into the writer’s mind and ability, which in turn can impact our judgment of THEIR (for you Gio
) character.
The one that I see the most in ichat or email is “your” (possessive, belonging to) instead of “you’re” (contraction of you are). Example: “Your going to send me a text message.” Which should be “You’re going to send me a text message.”
But hey! You can avoid this problem by using the all new UR!!! It’s either you are, you’re or your! “ur gonna send me a txt.” Sweet!
TTYL!
August 12th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Thank you all for the wonderful comments. It’s nice to see this much interest in the topic.
August 12th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Great article Craig; I agree that language is deteriorating.
It used to be (before the advent of the internet), that we stood “in a line” or “in line” to purchase tickets or enter a building. Now people say that they stood “on line” to mean that they lined up in wait. Of course it is possible to stand on a line or as is most often requested to stand behind a line. And Johnny Cash did “walk the line” but that is a different story.
My other pet peeve is the use of the word “seen”. Every day I hear people say; “I seen it!” This absolutely drives me up the wall. The proper terms are:
I see…
I saw…
I have seen…
August 12th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Other errors that grate on me:
“I feel taken for granite” (should be “granted”)
“I want to loose weight” (should be “lose”)
“Myself and a friend went to a restaurant” (should be “a friend and I”)
“I utilized the knife for my steak” (should be “used.” However, if you apply the knife to a purpose for which it wasn’t intended- such as pressing the reset button on your watch- the word “utilize” is appropriate).
-Allison
August 12th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
How about “for all intensive purposes”?
August 13th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Perhaps the language of the new generation is morphing into something more sophiticated that we dont yet understand - Rememeber how the aliens spoke in the Movie Mars Attacks?
I for one like the simplification - I will leave mastering the english language to others.
I before E except after C - Who came up with that? Affect Effect….. Please!
TTFN - DB
August 13th, 2008 at 11:51 am
You cannot “Pronunciate”… but you can pronounce or enunciate.
August 13th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
How about the new technology word “texted”?
August 14th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Wow. I think this is a record number of posts on my blog. Thank you so much for contributing.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Thank you Craig for contributing to the dynamics of the In Business website. I look forward to more insightful blogging dialog.