Blog Posts - words by kurt

Aspire to inspire

Tip #161: In spite of what you may think, beware despite and the blame game

3/16/2017

More effective writers in any field seek to use the right words to convey their messages. They understand the difference between denotation (direct meaning) and connotation (associated meaning), and they seek to match both with the context of their messages. That effort provides increased clarity, resulting in more effective communication.

Consider the example sentence in the cropped graphic at left. The writer could have used in spite of instead of despite. Both expressions have the same denotation (which is notwithstanding), but they have very different connotations. Despite suggests an effort to avoid or to deflect blame. In spite of simply juxtaposes two contrasting elements.

Does the writer of the example sentence above really want to play a blame game? Consider this revision:

In spite of their best efforts to reach desired production levels, plant managers failed to restore their facilities to profitability last quarter.

Without the revision, the sentence suggests that the plant managers are not responsible for the failure (which isn’t entirely true; management always bears at least some responsibility for results — or the lack thereof). With the revision, the sentence suggests that the plant managers did what was possible, but failure came anyway. The revision helps the sentence to convey a more realistic message while keeping the writer out of the political fray that playing the blame game often incites.

Some writers ignore not only the difference in connotation between despite and in spite of but also the confusion created by combing these two expressions together. More effective technical writers always avoid using despite of. The phrase is awkward and as such very ineffective at conveying anything meaningful.

So in spite of what you may think, beware despite and the blame game. Ensure your technical writing more effectively conveys your message by exercising more care in the words you use. Considering both the denotation and the connotation of the words you use will present not only your message but also you and your brands more effectively to your audience.

Tip #160: Avoid the aforesaid jargon

3/9/2017

Every more effective writer knows the importance of tone. And that’s why more effective technical writers avoid jargon and slang in their technical writing. They understand that a more formal tone presents better to a technical audience.

Case in point: Aforesaid, which means stated previously, is legal jargon. Its use may find acceptance in legal circles, but its presence in technical writing introduces an informality which more effective technical writing seeks to avoid. The writer of the example sentence in the cropped sentence at left could make a revision like this:

Although at greater initial cost, selecting U-400 for the design material will solve the previously described problems with premature failure.

Other possibilities abound, though many of them are more wordy. This revision combines the clarity necessary to avoid confusion with the more formal tone typical in more effective technical writing.

So avoid the aforesaid jargon in your technical writing. Preserve a more formal tone in your technical writing, and you’ll present your content more effectively to your audience. They in turn will have a more favorable impression of both you and your brands.

Tip #159: Clear your dates of commas for greater clarity

3/2/2017

Lately words by kurt has cleared away the confusion regarding the use of several words and phrases. For instance, two weeks ago we clarified the distinction between the mean and the median. Three weeks ago we delineated the use of the word average. And a month ago we distinguished the use of libel and liable. This week, we’ll address the confusion many writers have regarding dates.

In professional circles, the most common convention conveys dates in a month-first format. In this format, the month is spelled out, and the year, preceded by a comma, is a four-digit number. Writers may or may not employ a comma after the year.

This means the example sentence in the cropped graphic above is correct. Placing the comma after the year makes the year a type of parenthetical comment, and delineating parenthetical comments with commas is grammatically appropriate.

However, the final comma need not appear in the sentence. In that case, a writer could revise the example sentence in the cropped graphic above in this manner:

The inspection occurred on September 24, 2015 in accordance with previous arrangements.

In this instance, the comma before the date is simply part of the conventional format, the entirety of which forms the object of the preposition on.

A convention commonly used in the military and growing in use in business and industrial circles avoids the use of the comma altogether by placing the month second in the order of elements in the format. Thus, September 12, 2015 appears as 12 September 2015.

Unless your audience demands the more traditional convention, using this month-second format provides the most clarity in communication while avoiding the confusion surrounding commas simply because commas do not comprise part of the format. Note the change in the example sentence from the cropped graphic above when the writer applies this month-second format.

The inspection occurred on 12 September 2015 in accordance with previous arrangements.

Note the added sense of clarity, even if only slightly, in this example. Avoiding commas in dates provides that extra clarity and avoids confusion.

Of course, writers should avoid using numerical formats for dates, especially in technical writing. These formats have always conveyed more confusion than clarity. Much of the world lists the month first when using a numerical format for dates, but Americans list the month second. Thus, the date from our example sentence could be 12/09/15 or 09/12/15. Just looking at the numerical format, your audience could wonder whether you mean September 12 or December 9. Writers expressing the most clarity with dates avoid numerical formats.

Writers conveying the most clarity with dates also avoid the use of commas. So clear your dates of commas for greater clarity. Greater clarity better communicates your message. And that more effective presentation will in turn more effectively promote you and your brands in the minds of your audience.

Tip #158: The committee is one

2/23/2017

More effective writers understand and employ a few principles that set them apart from their less effective peers in the writing profession. One such principle is agreement between subject and predicate. Singular nouns take singular verbs, and plural nouns take plural verbs.

Although most writers avoid disagreement between subject and predicate in most cases, a few words provide some particular trouble. One such word is committee. Committee is a singular noun describing a collection of individuals. Writers who improperly use committee tend to focus on those individual members.

But the committee is a collection, and that collection is one. Therefore, the committee is one. And as a singular noun, committee takes a singular verb.

Consider the example sentence in the cropped graphic above. The writer has paired the singular noun committee with the plural noun are, thus creating a disagreement between subject and predicate. More effective writers will revise this sentence to provide agreement.

The committee is to select the material for the new spring design.

Another possible revision replaces the infinitive form of the verb with the future tense. This revision is one word shorter and avoids the passive voice of the previous revision.

The committee will select the material for the new spring design.

More effective writers ensure the subject of each sentence agrees with its predicate. The committee is one, and so committee takes a singular verb. Attention to details such as subject-predicate agreement produces more effective writing. That in turn produces more effective presentations of your messages to your audience. And more effective presentations better represent both you and your brands.

Tip #157: Average writers confuse the mean and the median

2/16/2017

Last week we examined the confusion that less effective writers promulgate by misusing the word average. Unfortunately, more confusion attends this word. Fortunately, words by kurt is here to clear away the confusion.

Most pure statisticians prefer to use mean instead of average. The two words describe the same statistical quantity and as such are synonymous. However, the median is a related but different concept.

The mean and median are each centers of measure for values in a data set. Whereas the mean describes the average value in a data set, the median describes the value in the middle value of a sorted data set.

For example, suppose we have a data set containing five values: 1, 3, 4, 7 and 11. The average of these values is

However, the median is the value in the middle of the data set. In our example case, the median is 4, because 4 is the value in the middle of the sorted data set.

If our data set had an even number of values, then the mean or average of the two values in the middle would be the median.

Average writers confuse the mean and the median. Their failure to employ precision of language makes them average. Don’t follow their less effective example. Employ precision of language in your writing. You'll produce more effective presentations of your message to your audience. And that in turn will better represent both you and your brands to that same audience.

Tip #156: Don’t be an average writer

2/9/2017

Precision of language comprises a key difference between more effective writers and average ones. That’s why we’ve repeatedly addressed different specific instances of precision of language in this forum. Today we’re going to examine another such instance involving the word average.

An average is a quantity derived by dividing the sum of two or more individual quantities by the number of quantities. The word appears as a noun, a verb, and an adjective. Most of the confusion less effective writers have involves its use as a verb.

Consider the example sentence in the cropped graphic above. A more effective writer understands that an average by definition requires more than one unit or element. Furthermore, each individual steel bar has its own length, which may or may not be the average length. Thus, a more effective writer would employ precision of language to revise the example sentence.

The fifty steel bars in the lot average 205 cm in length.

Technically, the concept of average does not recommend using the word as a verb. Its now common use in spoken English has proliferated that application widely. However, as we’ve often seen in this forum, spoken English and written English are not the same animal.

Precision of language separates the more effective writers from the less effective average ones. So don’t be an average writer! Understand the proper use of average, and you can present your messages in writing more effectively. That in turn will improve the estimation your audience gives to both you and your brands.

Tip #155: You’ll likely write better when you understand libel and liable

2/2/2017

Recently we’ve been riding the precision of language train. Three weeks ago we examined the correct use of the construction both . . . and. Two weeks ago we reviewed the difference between figuratively and literally, two words that many writers confuse. Last week we resolved the confusion many writers have between insoluble and unsolvable. This week, we’ll look at three additional words that many writers confuse — libel, liable, and likely.

The word among these three that connects with the other two is liable, which means responsible by law, legally answerable, and subject by law to. The word has a clear connotation of the law and legal matters. Yet when expressing in speech the idea of probability of occurrence, many use the word as a substitute for likely, even if no connotation of the law is intended.

Precise writers will use likely to express conditions of probability and liable to express subjugation to the law. Thus, these writers would revise the sentence in the cropped graphic above to read as follows:

Such service conditions make the casing likely to corrode.

Many writers confuse not only liable and likely but also liable and libel. Thus they use libel, which is anything distributed visually (writing or pictures) that damages someone’s reputation, when they really intend to convey the meaning of likely.

You’ll likely write better when you understand libel and liable. Using that precision of language promotes your own reputation as a more effective writer who can present desired messages to your audience more effectively. And that more effectively represents both you and your brands to that same audience.

Tip #154: Knowing when to use insoluble is not unsolvable

1/26/2017

Precision of language produces more effective technical writing. Recently we’ve been examining some specific instances of this concept. Three weeks ago we considered the difference between datum and data. Two weeks ago we learned the proper use of the construction both . . . and. Last week we examined the difference between figuratively and literally, two words that many writers confuse. This week we’ll consider two other words that many writers confuse — insoluble and unsolvable.

Insoluble means incapable of being dissolved. Unsolvable means impossible to solve. Less careful writers use these words interchangeably. However, the definitions of these two words make very clear that insoluble and unsolvable are not interchangeable.

Consider the example sentence in the cropped graphic above. By using insoluble, the writer communicates that the production problem is unable to dissolve in something. But problems don’t dissolve into anything; they don’t dissolve at all. Unsolvable is the better word choice.

The production problem remained unsolvable until yesterday when a line worker recognized a solution.

By using more precise language, writers can avoid possible confusion and communicate their messages more clearly.

Knowing when to use insoluble is not unsolvable. Understand the difference in definition, and you will know which word will more clearly communicate your meaning. That greater precision in language will increase the effectiveness of your writing. And that will in turn make a better presentation of both you and your brands to your audience.

Tip #153: Literally understand what figuratively means

1/19/2017

Lately we’ve been discussing the importance of precision in language within technical writing. Two weeks ago we learned the difference between datum and data. Last week we examined the construction both . . . and. This week we’ll continue our trek into precision of language by reviewing the difference between figuratively and literally. (And yes, we will do this literally, not figuratively!)

Figuratively means metaphorically or allegorically. Literally means really, actually, or in a literal manner or sense. Some writers confuse these two words, using them interchangeably. However, the definitions of these two words make very clear that figuratively and literally represent mutually exclusive concepts. They are not interchangeable.

Consider the example sentence in the cropped graphic above. Adding the word figuratively would clarify the true meaning of this sentence.

The factory workers were figuratively on fire.

One would not use the word literally instead of figuratively in this instance, because that would confirm that the factory workers were aflame and burning. In addition, more effective technical writers would not use the idiom on fire, which is informal language and as such has no place in more effective technical writing. Here’s one possible replacement:

The factory workers set a new production record.

By using more formal and precise language, writers can avoid the use of figuratively altogether.

Literally understand what figuratively means, and you can produce more effective technical writing through greater precision in language. More effective writing means a better presentation, and that will create a better impression of you and your brands in the minds of your audience.

Tip #152: Parallel structures balance both grammar and logic

1/12/2017

Last week we discussed precision of language in using the words datum and data. This week we’ll stay on that precision of language train by examining the construction both . . . and.

Using both . . . and introduces a parallel structure into a sentence. That means that this construction is most effective when whatever follows both matches whatever follows and in both grammar and logic. (See how I worked that in there?)

To illustrate, let’s examine the example sentence in the cropped graphic above. At first glance, one might not detect any error with the sentence. But the construction is not parallel. Look at the elements that follow each of the key words in the construction. Both is followed by ensuring clarity. And is followed by conciseness. Both of these elements are noun phrases; however, the first contains a gerund (which is a verb form being used as a noun) and the second does not (it is simply a noun).

Technical writers can make this example sentence more effective by matching the elements after each key word in the both . . . and construction. They can either change the first element to match the second or change the second element to match the first.

Mastering technical writing requires both clarity and conciseness.

Mastering technical writing requires both ensuring clarity and maximizing conciseness.

Notice how in each instance the elements after the key words match one another in both grammar and logic. This congruence makes the use of a parallel structure more effective. Greater precision of language makes for more effective technical writing. And that can make more effective presentations that more effectively represent both you and your brands to your audience.