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Earlier today I was happily gathering suggestions for favourite and most-hated Twitter-related phrases or words, (I’ve got some good ones, and feel free to send yours along.) when I was reminded of the Yahoo layoffs as Jeremiah Owyang tweeted about a leaked Yahoo layoff script obtained by Valleyway.
Currently, Yahoo’s layoff story is slowly unfolding on Twitter. Real life excerpts of those that made it through and those that didn’t and many others just offering their thoughts and sympathies.
I took a peek at the PowerPoint slides and my own layoff experience came tumbling back to me. Close to five years ago, I had just returned from maternity leave to my job as an editor and community manager at LookSmart, and –wham-o- they announced that the Canadian office was closing. It was devastating. I remember someone saying that I shouldn’t take it personally. Why not? It sure felt personal.
Yet, the office marched through the procedures, filling out exit interviews and meeting with some sort of transition counselor who gave us all advice on creating a new resume.
So, when I saw the PowerPoint, all those carefully cloaked words leapt off the page. The words and phrases that “blandify” (yup, I made that up) the entire layoff process.
Take “I have some information regarding our organization” for example. If you guessed Christmas bonus or company picnic, you’d be wrong. “Some information” is quickly becoming code for “very bad news indeed… news you probably won’t like at all.”
So, why would Yahoo refer to layoffs as “getting fit” (which, incidentally, was voted to the Grand List of Asinine Corporate Layoff Euphemisms)?
Because words are powerful. They have the ability to hurt, anger, infuriate. How best to take a potentially powder keg message and defuse it? Make it bland.
Bob Sutton, author of The No Asshole Rule, has compiled a list of mealy-mouthed layoff euphemisms which include “adjusting to shifts in demand” and “cost improvement plans.” WordSpy also lists a few, including my personal favourite, “career change opportunity.” These all sound rather benign –potentially alluring even!– don’t they? At least they do until you’re standing on the street with your desk plant in one hand and a plastic bag of personal belongings in the other.
As a general rule of thumb: the more detached the message, the more unpleasant the news. I suppose it is to calm the nerves of the visibly quaking ones left behind under the management that got everyone into this mess. But, no matter what words you use to try to hide it, there is no getting around the brutal truth. Layoffs suck. They hurt.
For what it’s worth, my layoff was the catalyst to start this company. So, any ex-Yahoo readers, good things will come. I believe in that.
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Earlier today I was happily gathering suggestions for favourite and most-hated …&topic=Personal Random Thoughts Words){kind=small}
Thanks to medium & the message for the heads-up on Wordle. Wordle is an online tool that allows you to submit any text or blog feed and get a word cloud that provides greater prominence to words that are used more frequently.
This is from the B(abble)log feed. What a fun way to start the week!
Ever sang the lyrics to your favourite song only to have someone remark, “What on Earth are you singing?” as if you were completely gormless and the extent of your idiocy was glaringly apparent to everyone but you.
Okay, maybe that’s just me.
But if you have, you’ve just had a “mondegreen” moment. According to the 2008 edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, a mondegreen is "a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung."
Merriam-Webster reports that author Sylvia Wright first coined the word mondegreen in 1954 in Atlantic magazine, when she confessed to a childhood misinterpretation of the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of Moray." When she first heard the lyric "they had slain the Earl of Moray and had laid him on the green," she felt terribly sorry for the "poor Lady Mondegreen."
And, thanks to Merriam -Webster you can take the object of your friends’ amusement and turn it into your 15 minutes of fame.
As a copywriter, words are extremely important to me. So, you’d think I wouldn’t goof up lyrics too much, eh? As hinted above, I’m probably guiltier than most.
Yes, that was me singing, “If I had a rocket lawn chair” without questioning why Bruce Cockburn would ever want a rocket lawn chair and why some son of a bitch would die if in fact he did own such a spiffy devise.
And yes, that was also me happily singing, ”She had an aura of prunes. She was trying to cut my boot.” to David Bowie’s Scary Monsters. (Correct lyric: "She had a horror of rooms. She was tired, you can’t hide beat.”)
Equally, I had no idea why Roger “Chuckles” Waters would pen, “Meet me in the garden. I’ve got salmon in my ear.” (Correct lyric: "Meet me in the garden of Gethsemane, my dear.”)
What are your favourite mondegreens?
- Its. It’s. What’s the diff?
- Your mission statement contains the word “empower.”
- Sally, that gormless lump of a receptionist, writes the brochures because you think it “gives her something to do.”
- You invested in copywriting software. Seriously.
- You see nothing something wrong with “Our synergistic leading edge, end-to-end solutions leverage revolutionary advanced technologies, delivering a paradigm shift in the competitive marketplace."
- The reader needs two post-graduate degrees to understand what your company does.
- Your copy is filled with “our company”, “us” and “we” with nary a “you” to be seen.
- Slogan-schmogan! What’s so difficult?! You just fill in the blanks: Helping______ achieve_______.
- Your sales letters contain: multiple exclamation points, phrases in bold red and in all caps, a P.S. as well as a P.P.S., P.P.P.S. and one P.P.P.P.S. for good measure, because after 7000 words, you really want to save the best for last.
- What do you mean there’s a difference between features and benefits?
This morning I was catching up on my reading and came across an article from just under two weeks ago (Yes, I have a LOT of catching up to do!) from Gizmodo entitled 1960s Braun Products Hold the Secrets to Apple’s Future.
The article looks at the incredible design talent that is Dieter Rams and compares his work to the current work of Apple designer Jonathan Ive. It’s a fascinating article and if design or anything Apple interests you, then it is a must-read.
What caught my eye were Rams’ 10 principles for good design. They are:
- Good design is innovative.
- Good design makes a product useful.
- Good design is aesthetic.
- Good design helps us to understand a product.
- Good design is unobtrusive.
- Good design is honest.
- Good design is durable.
- Good design is consequent to the last detail.
- Good design is concerned with the environment.
- Good design is as little design as possible.
It got me thinking. (Yes, even at 7-something a.m. in the morning, the old brain was inspired enough to move past basic motor skills mode…) If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then I intend to flatter Dieter Rams.
Here are 10 principles for good copy.
- Good copy is human.
- Good copy has a unique brand voice.
- Good copy resonates with its target audience.
- Good copy is compelling, lulling, alluring.
- Good copy is deceptively simple.
- Good copy is authentic.
- Good copy is visual.
- Good copy adds value.
- Good copy has no unnecessary words.
- Good copy makes us feel alive.
Are you sitting around in your office thinking to yourself, "Man, I wish I could improve my vocabulary and help the starving of the world at the same time."?
Me too!
I came across FreeRice.com, a very odd site, via Gawker. Essentially, you are presented with a word and four possible synonyms. For every word you get correct, Free Rice donates 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger. It was so bizarre I thought it was a joke. (Who counts out those grains? What happens if I get it wrong...does some poor kid lose food? WTF?!) But it appears to be on the up-and-up.
So if you're feeling the urge to save the world and show off your language skills, check it out!
![Digg!](http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.acriley.com/web-content/pivot/entry.php?id=216&title=Feed the Poor. Improve Your Vocab.&bodytext=
[[image:freericelogo.gif:Free Rice:left:0]]Are you sitting around in your office thinking to yourself, "Man, I wish I could improve my vocabulary and…&topic=Fun Stuff Online Content Words){kind=small}
I don't have a clue who still uses Bic's Wite Out, I'm pretty content to use the backspace key myself, but kudos to the creator of this excellent -- and very funny -- print campaign. Here are a few of the ads, to see more hop on over to Adpunch.
I have to say a hearty thank you to one of my clients, Karen from Curiosity Inc., for recommending that I read Bruce Nussbaum of Business Week. He writes about design, design thinking and design-driven strategy.
This is an utterly refreshing article, with the provocative title Are Designers The Enemy?
Listen to this:
We design stories with our audience. As John Battelle said recently, the conversation now is the content. It’s not about the finished story but about the ongoing story. It’s the conversation. And since most conversations don’t have a conclusion, they are ongoing. We live a life in beta.
What a divine little piece of writing. For me, and what I do, the ability to connect with my clients' audience through the power of story is imperative. Far more compelling than just relaying information, facts and the odd clever marketing phrase, stories have a life of their own that continue on after the telling.
The Dove campaign is a terrific example of storytelling; they've successfully framed stories around women's feelings and concerns about beauty. The product hasn't changed from what it was a few years back. But the story sure has.
So, how can you incorporate story into your company? Not only through media releases, sales collaterals, blogs and Web site, but as the backbone of your company - its beliefs and goals. Internal and external marketing needs to be collaborative - a message we can believe in, share in something we can get behind and support.
Be sure to read Nussbaum's follow-up article as well.
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