"Comprised of": point/ counterpoint

It seems like we're constantly changing this.

Hey, all you grammatical pedants out there: Check out this article about a Wikipedia editor named Bryan Henderson, who has made it his mission to eradicate "comprised of" from our favorite online encyclopedia.

Then, here's The Guardian's David Shariatmadari offering his viewpoint on why Henderson's efforts are misguided.

After you've finished reading both, please stop writing "comprised of". For example, America comprises 50 states; it is not comprised of 50 states. Use it like you would use "include": The bigger thing includes, or comprises, the smaller things. You wouldn't say "is included of", would you?

And then go grab a beer. It's Friday.

 

Want your stakeholders to think you're old-fashioned? Use two spaces.

At Corpowrite Asia, we spend a lot of time deleting spaces -- specifically, the second space after a period, question mark, exclamation point or colon. As this article points out, using two spaces is as obsolete as floppy disks. (They even both became outdated around the same time.) And the worst part about a business insisting on two spaces in its copy? It makes its brand look outdated, too.

Special thanks to Rachael Bradbury for spotting this one.

Is this literally, or figuratively the best invention ever?

Hey Google Chrome users: You can now download an extension that changes the word "literally" to "figuratively" on the websites you visit, since 99% of the time that the former is used, the latter is what is really meant.

For instance, a quick Google News search for 'literally' turns up the following headlines, modified by the browser extension to a state of unintentional accuracy:

• The 2014 MTV Movie Awards Were Figuratively on Fire
• 10 Things You Figuratively Do Not Have Time For
• Momentum Is Figuratively the Next Starting Pitcher for LSU

The internet is awesome. 

Sports in the boardroom

For everyone outside the US and Australia, the opening game of the 2014 baseball season in Sydney between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks probably didn't register. But for most of us -- including Australian baseball fans, all six of them -- this article shows how the American national pastime has permeated everyday life.

It's not just things like "getting to first base" (*snicker*). What's amazing is how much of this stuff gets said in business meetings. "Let's touch base", "playing hardball", "knock it out of the park" -- all of it comes from the diamond. (That's part of a baseball field. It's framed by four bases set at 90-degree angles from one another. Actually, it's more like a square sitting on one of its points. But we digress.)

It's not just baseball. There are many examples of sports lingo that have come to dominate the boardroom. Soccer/ football: "offside" (a way you don't want to catch your client). Basketball: "slam dunk". American football: "hand it off" (also relays), "Hail Mary".

Any others out there we're missing? More importantly, how many of you non-sports fans say some of this in business situations without even thinking about it?

Procrastinate? Me? Never!

This excellent article from The Atlantic touches upon a fundamental reason why many in-house marketing pros are often better off outsourcing their writing assignments.

According to Megan McArdle, writing is something even natural wordsmiths tend to put off as long as possible. For marketers -- no matter how seasoned a writer one may be -- all the meetings and distractions of a typical workday make the act of sitting down well after closing time to draft a press release downright depressing. Why subject oneself to the additional headache?