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Analogies explain the confusing, like tariffs (in March Wordnerdery)

Analogies explain the confusing, like tariffs (in March Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | Mar 21, 2025 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

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...
Create meaning by crunching the numbers (in January Wordnerdery)

Create meaning by crunching the numbers (in January Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | Jan 22, 2025 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

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...
A way with words; November Wordnerdery looks at Taylor Swift lyrics

A way with words; November Wordnerdery looks at Taylor Swift lyrics

by Sue Horner | Nov 28, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

The city of Toronto went wild for Taylor Swift this month. I wasn’t at any of the city’s six sold-out shows in her blockbuster Eras tour, but I have the friendship bracelets to show I was “concert adjacent.” You can’t hear about Taylor Swift...
4 ways to give numbers context  (in September Wordnerdery)

4 ways to give numbers context (in September Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | Sep 30, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Sometimes the right words are just as effective as the famous picture that’s worth a thousand words. You may have heard about the wildfires that tore through Fort McMurray, Alberta, in 2016. News reports showed walls of flame and images of desperate people...
More marvellous metaphors (like a ‘turtle Fitbit’) in February Wordnerdery

More marvellous metaphors (like a ‘turtle Fitbit’) in February Wordnerdery

by Sue Horner | Feb 23, 2024 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Do you want to explain something, make a point or spark that “aha” moment? Reach for a metaphor, which shows how two things are alike without using “like” or “as.” A metaphor gives people a shortcut to understanding new, complex or conceptual info, says writing...
A (Taylor) Swift look at numbers in August Wordnerdery

A (Taylor) Swift look at numbers in August Wordnerdery

by Sue Horner | Aug 23, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

If you use numbers to make a point, it’s not enough to just list the numbers. Especially with large or small numbers, you help your readers by giving context. In the August issue of my newsletter, Wordnerdery, I look at some of the big, big numbers around Taylor...
Sharpies as a simile and more expressive writing (Wordnerdery)

Sharpies as a simile and more expressive writing (Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | Jun 21, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

If you want to explain something, make a point or spark an “aha” moment, reach for “figurative language.” It’s a type of expressive writing that doesn’t just enhance style, it sharpens meaning, says The Canadian Writer’s Handbook. One type of figurative language is...
5 ways songwriters touch hearts (Wordnerdery)

5 ways songwriters touch hearts (Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | May 23, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

When Canadian music legend Gordon Lightfoot died on May 1 at the age of 84, tributes flooded in. They praised his songwriting abilities and ballads that brought Canadian stories to the world. “A songwriter without parallel, his melodies and words were an...
Marvellous metaphors in February 2023 Wordnerdery

Marvellous metaphors in February 2023 Wordnerdery

by Sue Horner | Feb 23, 2023 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Metaphors are marvellous when you want to explain something complicated, give an idea of size, make a point memorably – or just make someone smile. “An especially apt metaphor surprises and delights,” says author Jack Hart in A Writer’s Coach: An Editor’s Guide to...
Big bears put big numbers in perspective (Wordnerdery)

Big bears put big numbers in perspective (Wordnerdery)

by Sue Horner | Oct 25, 2022 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog

Brown bears are big. I mean, BIG. You probably have to guess at the size, but would you guess “seven times the average American adult”? That’s Chunk, at 1,200 pounds the runner-up in the annual Fat Bear Week, October 5 to 11 this year. The winner, Bear 747 (shown...
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