Analogies explain the confusing, like tariffs (in March Wordnerdery)
Steve Jobs used an analogy when he introduced the iPod in 2001, saying it held your whole music library in a device small enough to fit in your pocket. As he said, “Analogies work because they make the unfamiliar familiar; they help the mind navigate new terrain by...
Communication in the workplace: Links to helpful posts you might have missed
If your social media feeds are jammed with political news, you might like to look at the relatively calm world of employee communication. Just kidding, with tariffs and firings and turmoil over DEI, it’s not calm at all. But here’s another roundup of links you might...
Help the public actually understand your public notice (a Before & After in Wordnerdery)
Companies often have to meet government requirements to let people know what they’re up to. To do so, they publish public notices online and in newspapers. But what if those public notices are dense and confusing? A recent newspaper notice caught my eye because the...
Assignment: How’s dating the second time around?
With Valentine’s Day on the doorstep, this may be a timely question. How do you meet that special someone, especially when you’re widowed? Once upon a time, people met at church or pursuing hobbies or through a friend or family member. These days, people...
Even more to learn about AI, in links you might have missed
You’ve been warned that artificial intelligence “hallucinates” (lies or makes up stuff). While you likely expect that in written work, you have to look out for it in photos, too. Matt Groh and his colleagues at Kellogg School of Management have identified five...
Create meaning by crunching the numbers (in January Wordnerdery)
The wildfires that dominated the news earlier this month are still blazing in Los Angeles. As I write this, the largest, Palisades, is only 59% contained. More than 200,000 people were evacuated; at least 27 are dead. More than 15,000 buildings have been destroyed or...
Dissonance and polarization in 2024? Sounds about right
The people who compile and edit dictionaries (lexicographers) and track word searches have spoken. After analyzing search engine results, newsworthy headlines, trends on social media and more, they identified the words that were on our lips, online and in the real...
Top 10 posts in the Red Jacket Diaries in 2024
Happy New Year! In what’s become an annual tradition for the Red Jacket Diaries, I’ve peeked under the blog hood to find the 10 most-viewed posts in 2024: 1. I’ve been known to rant about annoying words and jargon (like “hack,” “like a boss” and “resonate”). Here’s...