language Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/language/ Tue, 03 Apr 2018 20:02:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/cropped-WBP-FAVICON_7-32x32.jpg language Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/language/ 32 32 Stop Alienating Your Readers! Choose the Right POV https://old.wordsbyapro.com/stop-alienating-your-readers-choose-the-right-pov/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stop-alienating-your-readers-choose-the-right-pov Tue, 03 Apr 2018 19:50:55 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2842 I was checking out one of the educational marketing courses offered at the HubSpot Academy the other day when I was struck dumb. Dumbstruck, even. The lesson I was watching involved content marketing and the choices writers face when drafting copy. Things started out fine. HubSpot explained that one of the first decisions a writer […]

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]]> The Flavours of English https://old.wordsbyapro.com/the-flavours-of-english/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-flavours-of-english Wed, 13 Dec 2017 21:25:28 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2545 In the 1964 movie My Fair Lady, excruciatingly British phonetics professor Henry Higgins worries about the fate of the English language. “In America,” he observes, “they haven’t used it for years.” If you write or edit English prose for hire, you may be called upon to ensure a piece follows the spelling, grammar, and punctuation […]

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]]> Is It Okay to Use the Word Hopefully? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/when-to-use-word-hopefully/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=when-to-use-word-hopefully Tue, 07 Nov 2017 21:15:58 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2456 There remains debate about whether this adverb is appropriate or not. According to an NPR article, thirty years ago a few famous grammarians decided to “vilify” the word. Prior to this, so they say, the word was used without complaint. After three decades of debate, most of us are now confused. I like to quote […]

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]]> Questions for a Language Ninja: Why, Oh Why Will No One Read My Content? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/questions-language-ninja-oh-will-no-one-read-content/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-language-ninja-oh-will-no-one-read-content Tue, 29 Aug 2017 21:19:30 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2162 Q: I’ve been trying to produce content that bolsters my online profile and optimizes my search engine rankings. I’ve studied nearly all of the online tips and incorporated the strategies of various thought-leaders into my own web content, but I haven’t seen any improvement. What gives? A: The Language Ninja has received so may questions […]

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]]> Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers https://old.wordsbyapro.com/misplaced-dangling-modifiers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=misplaced-dangling-modifiers Tue, 20 Jun 2017 20:57:35 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2135 “Huh?” you may ask yourself. “I kinda remember hearing those words in high school English class, but I have no idea what they mean,” you may answer. The robber was described as a six-foot-tall man with a mustache weighing 150 pounds. Funny, right? What weighed 150 pounds—the robber or the mustache? This sentence reads as […]

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]]> Questions for a Language Ninja: Overused Words and Slaying that Content https://old.wordsbyapro.com/questions-language-ninja-overused-words-slaying-content/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-language-ninja-overused-words-slaying-content Wed, 05 Apr 2017 22:22:14 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1968 Q: What would you say are the most overused words from the past year? I nominate “pivot.” Yes, the word “pivot” – a word that was previously only used in osteopathic and Jazz dance applications – has been tossed around quite brutally, particularly on cable news channels. The Ninja agrees that as an indication of […]

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]]> Pop Culture Silver Linings https://old.wordsbyapro.com/pop-culture-silver-linings/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pop-culture-silver-linings Wed, 15 Feb 2017 16:00:26 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1925 Here at Words by a Pro, we work with narratives. It’s our job to write stories surrounding brands. Orders often run along the lines of “informative but entertaining” or “professional but accessible.” Occasionally we’ll receive a client looking for copy that’s a bit edgier, or sometimes a business in a technical field wants a rigorously […]

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]]> How Your Language Use Influences Your Marketing Strategy https://old.wordsbyapro.com/language-use-influences-marketing-strategy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=language-use-influences-marketing-strategy Tue, 24 Jan 2017 10:30:00 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1912 We’ve all had those insightful moments where a brilliant thought or idea rushes through our mind. It’s this time that we run to grab our pencil and paper and quickly jot down our fleeting thought. Did you ever feel like your brilliant idea became a complete flop once you put it into words? Sometimes it’s […]

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]]> Grammar Rules: A Lesson on “However” https://old.wordsbyapro.com/grammar-rules-lesson-however/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grammar-rules-lesson-however Tue, 13 Dec 2016 20:54:10 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1891 It’s a little tricky. Many amateur writers use the word however incorrectly. The most common mistake—and we see it way too often—is using it as if it were a coordinating conjunction. A coordinating conjunction joins elements of equal grammatical rank. In middle or high school, you may have been given the mnemonic device FANBOYS. It […]

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]]> To Stress or Not to Stress? A Primer on the Music of Language https://old.wordsbyapro.com/stress-not-stress-primer-music-language/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stress-not-stress-primer-music-language https://old.wordsbyapro.com/stress-not-stress-primer-music-language/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2016 22:04:12 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1876 Ahh, the music of language. We’ve all heard the phrase before, but many of us haven’t given much thought to what it actually means. Is it how words sound? The “flow” of a sentence? Or something more? There are plenty of factors at work that can explain the musicality of a language, but today I’d […]

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