‘Project Smart
English’
Say it Right
Some More Incorrectly
Used Words
That Can Make You
Look Bad
(Adapted from an article
by Jeff Haiden on Inc.)
Advise and advice
Aside from the two words being pronounced differently (the s in
advise sounds like az), advise is a verb
while advice is a noun. Advice is what you give (whether or
not the recipient is interested in that gift is a different issue altogether)
when you advise someone.
So, “Thank you for the advise” is incorrect, while “I advise you
not to bore me with your advice in the future” is correct.
Ultimate and penultimate
Ultimate means the best, or final, or last. Penultimate means
the last but one, or second to last.
But penultimate doesn’t mean second-best.
Well and good
Anyone who has children uses good more often than
he or she should. Since kids pretty quickly learn what good means,
“You did good” is much more convenient and meaningful than “You did well.”
But that doesn’t mean good is the correct word
choice.
Good is an adjective that describes something; if you did a good
job, then you do good work. Well is an adverb that describes
how something was done; you can do your job well.
Where it gets tricky is when you describe, say, your health or
emotional state. “I don’t feel well” is grammatically correct, even though many
people often say, “I don’t feel too good.” On the other hand, “I don’t feel
good about how he treated me” is correct; no one says, “I don’t feel well about
how I’m treated.”
Confused? If you’re praising an employee and referring to the
outcome say, “You did a good job.” If you’re referring to how the employee
performed say, “You did incredibly well.”.
If and whether
If and whether are often interchangeable. If a
yes/no condition is involved, then feel free to use either: “I wonder whether
Jim will finish the project on time” or “I wonder if Jim will finish the
project on time.” (Whether sounds a little more formal in this
case, so consider your audience and how you wish to be perceived.)
What’s trickier is when a condition is not involved. “Let me know
whether Marcia needs a projector for the meeting” isn’t conditional, because
you want to be informed either way. “Let me know if Marcia needs a projector
for the meeting” is conditional, because you only want to be told if she needs
one.
And always use if when you introduce a condition.
“If you hit your monthly target, I’ll increase your bonus” is correct; the
condition is hitting the target and the bonus is the result. “Whether you are
able to hit your monthly target is totally up to you” does not introduce a
condition (unless you want the employee to infer that your thinly veiled threat
is a condition of ongoing employment).
Stationary and
stationery
You write on stationery. You get business stationery, such as
letterhead and envelopes, printed.
But that box of envelopes is not stationary unless it’s not
moving–and even then it’s still stationery.
Award and reward
An award is a prize. Musicians win Grammy Awards. Car companies win
J.D. Power awards. Employees win Employee of the Month awards. Think of an
award as the result of a contest or competition.
A reward is something given in return for effort, achievement, hard
work, merit, etc. A sales commission is a reward. A bonus is a reward. A free
trip for landing the most new customers is a reward.
Be happy when your employees win industry or civic awards, and
reward them for the hard work and sacrifices they make to help your business
grow.
Sympathy and empathy
Sympathy is acknowledging another person’s feelings. “I am sorry
for your loss” means you understand the other person is grieving and want to
recognize that fact.
Empathy is having the ability to put yourself in the other person’s
shoes and relate to how the person feels, at least in part because you’ve
experienced those feelings yourself.
The difference is huge. Sympathy is passive; empathy is active. Know
the difference between sympathy and empathy, live the difference and you’ll
make a bigger difference in other people’s lives.
Criterion and criteria
A criterion is a principle or standard. If you have more than one
criterion, those are referred to as criteria.
But if you want to be safe and you only have one issue to consider,
just say standard or rule or benchmark. Then
use criteria for all the times there are multiple
specifications or multiple criterion (OK, standards) involved.
Mute and moot
Think of mute like the button on your remote; it
means unspoken or unable to speak. In the U.S., moot refers to
something that is of no practical importance; a moot point is one that could be
hypothetical or even academic. In British English, moot can also
mean debatable or open to debate.
So if you were planning an IPO, but your sales have plummeted, the
idea of going public could be moot. And if you decide not to talk about it
anymore, you will have gone mute on the subject.
Peak and peek
A peak is the highest point; climbers try to reach the peak of
Mount Everest. Peek means quick glance, as in giving major
customers a sneak peek at a new product before it’s officially unveiled, which
hopefully helps sales peak at an unimaginable height.
Occasionally a marketer will try to “peak your interest” or “peek
your interest,” but in that case the right word is pique, which
means “to excite.” (Pique can also mean “to upset,” but hopefully
that’s not what marketers intend.)
Aggressive and enthusiastic
Aggressive is a very popular business adjective: aggressive sales force,
aggressive revenue projections, aggressive product rollout. But unfortunately, aggressive means
ready to attack, or pursuing aims forcefully, possibly unduly so.
So do you really want an “aggressive” sales force?
Of course, most people have seen aggressive used
that way for so long they don’t think of it negatively; to them it just means
hard-charging, results-oriented, driven, etc., none of which are bad things.
But some people may not see it that way. So consider using words
like enthusiastic, eager, committed, dedicated, or even
(although it pains me to say it) passionate.
Then and than
Then refers in some way to time. “Let’s close this deal, and then
we’ll celebrate!” Since the celebration comes after the sale, then is
correct.
Then is also often used with if. Think in terms
of if-then statements: “If we don’t get to the office on time, then we won’t be
able to close the deal today.”
Than involves a comparison. “Landing Customer A will result in
higher revenue than landing Customer B,” or “Our sales team is more committed
to building customer relationships than the competition is.”
Evoke and invoke
To evoke is to call to mind; an unusual smell might evoke a
long-lost memory. To invoke is to call upon some thing: help, aid, or maybe a
higher power.
So hopefully all your branding and messaging efforts evoke specific
emotions in potential customers. But if they don’t, you might consider invoking
the gods of commerce to aid you in your quest for profitability.
Or something like that.
Continuously and continually
Both words come from the root continue, but they
mean very different things. Continuously means never ending.
Hopefully your efforts to develop your employees are continuous, because you
never want to stop improving their skills and their future.
Continual means whatever you’re referring to stops and starts. You
might have frequent disagreements with your co-founder, but unless those
discussions never end (which is unlikely, even though it might feel otherwise),
then those disagreements are continual.
That’s why you should focus on continuous improvement but only plan
to have continual meetings with your accountant: The former should never, ever
stop, and the other (mercifully) should.
Systemic and systematic
If you’re in doubt, systematic is almost always
the right word to use. Systematic means arranged or carried out
according to a plan, method, or system. That’s why you can take a systematic
approach to continuous improvement, or do a systematic evaluation of customer
revenue or a systematic assessment of market conditions.
Systemic means belonging to or affecting the system as a whole. Poor
morale could be systemic to your organization. Or bias against employee
diversity could be systemic.
So if your organization is facing a pervasive problem, take a
systematic approach to dealing with it—that’s probably the only way you’ll
overcome it.
Impact and affect (and effect)
Many people (including until recently me) use impact when
they should use affect. Impact doesn’t mean to
influence; impact means to strike, collide, or pack firmly.
Affect means to influence: “Impatient investors affected
our rollout date.”
And to make it more confusing, effect means to
accomplish something: “The board effected a sweeping policy change.”
How you correctly use effect or affect can
be tricky. For example, a board can affect changes by influencing them and can
effect changes by directly implementing them. Bottom line, use effect if
you’re making it happen, and affect if you’re having an impact
on something that someone else is trying to make happen.
As for nouns, effect is almost always correct:
“Employee morale has had a negative effect on productivity.” Affect refers
to an emotional state, so unless you’re a psychologist, you probably have
little reason to use it.
So stop saying you’ll “impact sales” or “impact the bottom line.”
Use affect.
Between and among
Use between when you name separate and individual
items. “The team will decide between Mary, Marcia, and Steve when we fill the
open customer service position.” Mary, Marcia, and Steve are separate and
distinct, so between is correct.
Use among when there are three or more items but
they are not named separately. “The team will decide among a number of
candidates when we fill the open customer service position.” Who are the
candidates? You haven’t named them separately, so among is correct.
And we’re assuming there are more than two candidates; otherwise
you’d say between. If there are two candidates you could say,
“I just can’t decide between them.”
Everyday and every
day
Every day means every day—each and every day. If you ate a bagel for
breakfast each day this week, you had a bagel every day.
Everyday means commonplace or normal. Decide to wear your “everyday
shoes” and that means you’ve chosen to wear the shoes you normally wear. That
doesn’t mean you have to wear them every single day; it just means wearing them
is a usual occurrence.
Another example is along and a long: Along means
moving in a constant direction or a line, or in the company of others, while a
long means of great distance or duration. You wouldn’t stand in “along
line,” but you might stand in a long line for a long time, along with a number
of other people.
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