Gifts for writers and readers, 2021 edition
Festive lights and Christmas trees are already popping up in my neighbourhood. American Thanksgiving is fast approaching. The news is full of dire predictions for the availability of whatever it was you hoped to buy for Christmas gifts. Let’s get cracking, then,...
Don’t settle: ‘Performative diversity’ isn’t enough to support DE&I progress
Is your company doing the important work that supports diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I)? Or is it settling for “performative diversity”? The subject came up after I shared an article on social media that listed some “easy ways” communicators could support...
TBH, some ‘new’ words are no surprise, amirite?
Merriam-Webster added a staggering 455 new words to the dictionary in October. Some aren’t exactly new (hasn’t dad bod been a thing for a while?), but are newly welcomed to the inner sanctum of the dictionary world. Many did not relate exactly to the pandemic, either,...
Here’s how to make a difference to diversity (Wordnerdery)
If your company looks “male, pale and stale” at the top, there’s a lot you as a communication or PR person can do about it. That’s according to participants in the Diversity in PR conference I attended recently. Right now, most of us are in Diversity 1.0....
Words, writing, life + more: Links to smart advice you might have missed
The latest “What happens on the internet every minute” is out courtesy of Domo.com, and oh my, we are online a lot. (Click on the image to get a better view of it.) Every minute, enough people are watching YouTube videos to add up to more than 694,000 hours. Every...
Love locks, meet-cute and zom-com: More dictionary updates
The idea of love locks is charming. They are small padlocks, often with names or initials etched into them, attached to a bridge, railing or fence as a symbol of love. Awww. While they may lift lovers’ spirits, though, love locks can drag structures down. In 2015,...
‘Spaghetti on a plate’ and more pandemic analogies (Wordnerdery)
Don’t you appreciate when people use creative ways to help you understand something complicated? This is especially welcome as we continue grappling with COVID-19. These days, scientists are explaining how vaccines or preventive measures work, the perfect situation...
We’re laughing, but no joke: COVID-19 vaccines have fancy new names
When I heard that three COVID-19 vaccines were getting new names, and when I saw the names, I thought it was a joke. But no, apparently it’s true. Health Canada has “authorized brand name changes” for the vaccines formerly known as Pfizer, Moderna and...