Give your company a voice
An article in The Times newspaper this week highlighted the importance of keeping up with changing attitudes. A leprosy charity has criticised the Church of Scotland’s official magazine over a crossword clue that it claims fuels “archaic, derogatory and harmful” attitudes.
Readers were asked to solve “Outcast (5)” for the puzzle in the Church’s Life and Work magazine. The answer was revealed to be “leper”.
Changing attitudes
Linda Todd,
For those of a certain age, it has long been the failsafe gesture of the restaurant diner who wants to pay. But, in a sign of these digital times, the exaggerated air scribble is on its way out. Its demise is due to a younger generation who have never had to sign anything to settle a bill.
As a copywriter, it’s important for me to keep up with communication trends so my writing is relevant and relatable.
2020 has seen a growth in sales of surveillance technology. What happened to trust between employer and employee?
With the US elections on the horizon, victory could hinge on which side’s slogan is the best. Elections really can be won or lost on the basis of a snappy slogan. Think of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” in 2016 or, closer to home, the Tories’ “Labour isn’t working” poster in 1979.
According to a new book on American presidential slogans called ‘Words to Win By’, election slogans work best when they are clear,
Did you know that today’s teens increasingly see the use of full stops in online communications as being abrupt, angry or passive-aggressive?
In news that will send shivers down parents’ spines, a new report[1] shows slang used in texting, social media and email abbreviations has led to an increase in the number of pupils failing their English GCSEs.
‘Slanglish’, the terminology today’s teens use when communicating with their friends, is the biggest downfall of students today. It was cited by 42% of tutors who responded to a survey about the most common reasons for failure.
A café in the exclusive seaside town of Sandbanks, Dorset has excited caffeine-fuelled rage by replacing pretentious coffee names with down-to-earth descriptions instead. The no-nonsense beverages menu uses simple descriptions instead of trendy names commonly used by baristas. This means latte becomes ‘milky coffee’, mocha is ‘choccy coffee’ and cappuccino is ‘frothy coffee’. Tea is described simply as ‘Not coffee’ and hot chocolate as ‘Also not coffee’.
Apparently, some customers have appreciated the joke saying they hadn’t realised what all the different terms meant until now.
Is Americanese now acceptable?
Royal watchers have recently spotted a rash of Americanisms appearing on the Instagram account of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – or Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as they’re commonly known – when baby Archie’s impending birth sparked talk of ‘diapers’ and ‘strollers’. Fair enough, you may think. After all, the Instagram account is half-American – even though Kensington Palace aides say the posts are written by members of their staff,
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The European Parliament is showing it’s in tune with today’s more gender-sensitive, inclusive climate by issuing language guidelines that ban the use of gender-specific words like ‘mankind’ and ‘manpower’ by MEPs.
An updated guidebook sent to parliamentary officials and MEPs in Brussels says the “generic use of man should be avoided”. This means instead of “statesmen”, officials should say “political leaders” and the term “man-made” should be replaced with “artificial” or “synthetic”. It suggests “police officer” is substituted for “policeman” or “policewoman”.
