by Sue Horner | Apr 30, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The search for an alternate way to say “man-hours” and “manhole covers” for an employee newsletter article (how about “work-hours” and “sewer covers”?) got me looking again at the whole issue of gender neutral (or gender fair) language. Some people scoff at even...
by Sue Horner | Apr 28, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
USB drives are useful. Mini highlighters are cute. There are magnets, keychains, stress balls, lanyards, mugs and sports bottles everywhere. But THESE are cool ways to promote your company (sadly, not available to Canadians): *Â Sharpie will personalize your pen...
by Sue Horner | Apr 23, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
And there you have it – one of my pet peeves about Twitter. How every second word is turned into adaptations and variations of the word Twitter and the messages known as tweets. Your words go out into the Twitterverse or tweetstream. People are Tweeple or just...
by Sue Horner | Apr 16, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
A card arrived yesterday the old fashioned way, in the mail with postage stamp and all. It was from my friends at the local Honda dealership. Since I have just closed the deal on a new car, I thought it might be a “thanks for buying our car” type of card....
by Sue Horner | Apr 15, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
My recent car-hunting experience made me think. Why don’t companies follow up? It all began when I brought my car in to the dealership for routine servicing. The service advisor called to say the mechanic had suggested some additional work, some of it fairly...
by Sue Horner | Apr 9, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
(Updated July 31, 2018) If ever there was encouragement to stay away from the overused word “unique” (not to mention “very unique”), here it is. At least 48,095 news releases used it in 2008. (It’s less common in 2018, but don’t kid yourself; it’s still out there.)...
by Sue Horner | Apr 8, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Some writers are known for sprinkling unusual words throughout their copy. It becomes their style or maybe a familiar quirk, but I do think it puts up a barrier between writer and reader. If you have to stop reading to go look up the word, doesn’t that break the...
by Sue Horner | Apr 3, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
In his Alertbox newsletter discussing how non-profit web sites can attract new donors (you’d think it would go without saying, but obviously not: it’s be clear about what you are trying to achieve, and tell potential donors how you are going to spend the...
by Sue Horner | Mar 31, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
This is such a great contest: The Diagram Prize’s Oddest Book Title of the Year. Its 2009 winner is The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-miligram Containers of Fromage Frais. I’m sure you are wondering, how could that possibly have beat out Baboon...
by Sue Horner | Mar 30, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Writing in an interesting, funny, thoughtful, expressive way helps your reader (or listener) clearly understand your point. Here are some recent examples I’ve run across: “By yearend, investors of all stripes were bloodied and confused, much as if they...
