Category: language

Guerrilla vs Gorilla

On the train home I was pondering the difference between guerrilla marketing and gorilla marketing. Antonio points out that the Cadbury’s Phil Collins advert might be an example of gorilla marketing, but I think it’s probably deeper than that. According to Wikpedia: Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy… Continue reading Guerrilla vs Gorilla

Literacy and Professionalism

I remember a time, not very long ago, when people assumed a link between literacy and professionalism. When producing text for public consumption people would always take the time to ensure that their spelling and grammar were correct. Obvious errors in copy would be seen as a lack of attention to detail and would throw… Continue reading Literacy and Professionalism

Tesco Improves its English

From the BBC: Tesco is to change the wording of signs on its fast-track checkouts to avoid any linguistic dispute. The supermarket giant is to replace its current “10 items or less” notices with signs saying “Up to 10 items”. Tesco’s move follows uncertainty over whether the current notices should use “fewer” instead of “less”… Continue reading Tesco Improves its English

Ariel

You don’t have to be stupid to work for Radio 1. But it often helps. Someone called Dom, writes on the Chris Moyles show blog: Now then – the BBC has its own in-house magazine called Ariel. This name is very clever as it can relate to a TV ariel or a radio ariel. Two… Continue reading Ariel

Quoting Illiterates (Update)

An email has flooded in about my previous post confirming that I was being too harsh. My correspondent points out that the mother was illiterate, she was just using “txtspk” which, whilst not being a dialect that many people enjoy reading, is still becoming an acceptable language amongst the young. I don’t agree with this… Continue reading Quoting Illiterates (Update)

Quoting Illiterates

The BBC have an interesting report on the baby who was mauled to death by the family rottweiler. The story talks about the child’s mother’s reaction to the death. It’s interesting because of the way that they report what she says. The quotations from the mother in the story obviously come from two sources –… Continue reading Quoting Illiterates

Double Negatives

If there’s one time in your life when it pays to be very careful about what you’re saying, then it’s when you’re answering questions about crimes that you have been accused of. You know, there’s that whole “anything you say will be taken down and can be used in evidence against you” thing going on.… Continue reading Double Negatives

“Less Delays”

Does no-one speak English any more? In Leicester Square station last night I saw a Transport for London poster that proudly declared that the work they are currently doing on the network will lead to “less delays”. Do they mean “less delay”? Or perhaps “fewer delays”? I wonder how many people approved that copy. And… Continue reading “Less Delays”