Blog » BRIEF: How One Wrong Word Can Ruin Your Message
BRIEF: How One Wrong Word Can Ruin Your Message
Do you know what the word “ideation” means? How about “subitise”? Until recently, I didn’t know what they meant and wasn’t even sure they were actual words. I have four dictionaries on my desk, two synonym finders and two thesauruses. I couldn’t find either word in any of the eight books.
Boy, do I feel stupid?
Just the opposite. My overwhelming feeling was irritation. Why? Because the writer, in both cases, was attempting to establish authority on their subject matter by using fancy pants words. I’m at a loss why people do this, especially when it comes to marketing documents. If you have a really big-brained person reading your document, they probably know at least as much as you do. If the reader isn’t quite so gifted - like me - the results are worse. 1) The reader will feel stupid and quietly go away or, 2) The reader will think you’re an idiot and possibly blab about it a blog post. Either way, you haven’t gained the sort of influence you’re after.
What’s the big ideation?
A few well-placed tweets and appeals to the brainiacs in my network revealed the definitions. Subitise means, “to perceive the number of (a group of items) at a glance and without counting”. Ideation means “idea generation”. Both words are psychological terms and have no place in business communication. My query revealed more ridiculous words/phrases. My favourite was shared by @davidlmorris, “verbal facilitation” used in place of “talking”. Oh brother!
Take-Away
When writing marketing documents, express yourself in a simple, straightforward way. Using big words and flowery phrases doesn’t impress and, at worst, offends your reader. The idea is to communicate, not confuse.
What words have sent you looking in the dictionary lately?
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Comments
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Hi James,
I have done some consulting work with academics. As you say, they suffer from a fair bit of vocabulary bloat and it permeates all their collateral.
I'm not sure why this is. As educators you would think they would be most interested in getting their idea across. (I'm resisting the urge to use the term "ideation" here.)
Thanks for your comment.
Posted by Sarah Mitchell, 16/04/2010 3:04am (5 months ago)
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Hi Sarah,
Have you ever worked on a school website?
Teachers and other folk in the education industry like big words and turgid sentences. I don't think they're trying to impress anyone. It's just what the system they're in does to them.
Some of them can't spel or write proper either.
James.Posted by James Bull, 16/04/2010 2:54am (5 months ago)
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Hi Paul,
I get the same blank stares here in WA when I ask clients about the meaning of dynamic. In travel writing, "quaint" is the meaningless word of choice. It is helpful to know they're actual words but the result is the same as with ideation and subitise - the reader still doesn't know what you're trying to say.Posted by Sarah Mitchell, 15/04/2010 4:45pm (5 months ago)
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I didn't know those either, Sarah. But I agree with every word YOU said! 'Dynamic' is my bugbear. When I ask clients what they actually mean by that term, I get more stares than bears. Best regards, P. :)
Posted by Paul Hassing, 15/04/2010 4:29pm (5 months ago)
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Thanks, Marjolein. All credit goes to you for giving me the fantastic link to the online Reverso dictionary. http://dictionary.reverso.net It cleared up the "subitise" problem for me.
Posted by Sarah Mitchell, 15/04/2010 3:57am (5 months ago)
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Hi Sarah,
I could not agree more. It is about communication, and using little used words will simply not communicate your message effectively.
Cheers,
MTPosted by Marjolein Towler, 15/04/2010 3:10am (5 months ago)
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Hi Jon,
That's a good rule of thumb, to write copy your mother would understand. I particularly abhor SMS jargon entering daily vocabularly specifically because it excludes most of the people in her generation.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a good tip.
Posted by Sarah Mitchell, 15/04/2010 2:35am (5 months ago)
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Yes, I hate this kind of stuff.
It's funny because although I'm a native British speaker I often struggle to follow B2B American-English copy. It's like the weasels are scribbling the copy having juiced up on Jargon Kool-Aid.
My rule of thumb is: if my mother would understand the copy, anyone will.Posted by Jon Buscall, 15/04/2010 2:17am (5 months ago)
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Hi Susan,
Thanks for the great advice.
The article I read was speaking about an ideation area. I went back and read it again after I found out what ideation meant. I'm STILL not sure about an ideation area. I think it could be a conference table or maybe a discussion forum. Either way, leaving the reader guessing is a bad idea.Posted by Sarah Mitchell, 15/04/2010 12:15am (5 months ago)
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Hi Sarah,
I did have to laugh when I saw the tweets and I had no idea what the words meant or even if they were real words.
I was taught something years ago that I always remember. If a child can't understand it then think about redoing it.
Also speak and write the language that your customers use and understand, otherwise you are not communicating with them.
Your example is a good reminder for all of us.
Susan
Posted by Susan Oakes, 14/04/2010 8:40pm (5 months ago)
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