March 12th, 2010
nce again, the Local Government Association has published its annual list of words that public sector officials should avoid using, particularly when talking to real human beings.
Most of them bring back painful memories of the time I spent working for charities, and the interminable meetings which sapped my will to live.
I can’t bear to paste the actual words into my blog – I want to be careful who I attract as readers – but here’s a couple of pictures of the list…
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Government jargon leaves human beings out of the equation »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, Words | 9 Comments »
March 8th, 2010
his week, someone sent me a meeting appointment for an Ideation Session. Erm, what?
I’ve worked as a copywriter for a big, American company for 4 years now. So I’m fluent in the language of ‘business speak’. (Or, as I’ve affectionately renamed it, Corporate ****. Fill in the blanks – you’ll be right.) But ‘ideation’ has recently moved up my own personal chart of words (is it even one of those?) which is just unnecessary. And ridiculous. And usually used by someone who’s not particularly clever to pretend that they are, in fact, rather clever.
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(Guest post) Bat up your nightdress? Not likely »
Author: Vicky Sandison.
Posted in: Blog, Words | 4 Comments »
February 2nd, 2010
e all have favourite words. Mine include beauties like ‘plop’, ‘scud’ and ‘gargle’, because I like nice sounds more than sophisticated definitions.
But what about the words you hate? The ones that appear like dog turds on the pavement of prose?
I can’t speak for you, but mine are:
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Ten words that make readers recoil »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, Words | 63 Comments »
January 15th, 2010
re copywriters guilty of hypocrisy when it comes to jargon?
Most of us say that we scratch out jargon wherever we find it, but – like any trade or profession – we have our own words that are mainly for use amongst ourselves.
We’ve been very discreet about it, though. If you search for copywriting jargon on the web, you won’t find much. That’s because we’ve managed to get most of it ascribed to the industries we work in – advertising, law, radio and so on.
But it’s ours alright. Let’s take my favourite item of copywriters’ jargon: the Seymour.
A Seymour refers to a copywriter who earns £100,000 per year or more. It was coined in the 1970s when Saatchi and Saatchi’s Geoff Seymour, writer of the famous Hovis ad (“Hovis: as good for you today as it’s always been”), became the first copywriter to nab a six figure salary.
Much copywriting slang, though, remains obscure. And I think it’s time we put it down on the record. After all, if we’re going to have a jargon, it’s important to make sure it’s better than everyone else’s.
So, if you’re a copywriter, or you have a juicy slice of copywriting slang that you’d like to share, please drop your words into the comments box below.
Do copywriters have their own jargon? »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, copywriting | 14 Comments »
