Bull's Eye Business Writing Tips

Tip #415:  “Frankly, quite frankly, honestly...”

These FREE weekly business writing tips
will help you improve your business writing.

Tip #415:  “Frankly, quite frankly, honestly”, and other bogus ”candy” modifiers:  these modifiers are considered unnecessary words according to an article by the syndicated columnist, James Kirkpatrick.  They are known as “candy” modifiers. 

For example, the trouble with using the word “frankly” is that someone who says he or she is speaking frankly almost always isn’t.  I, personally, cannot “honestly” say that these words are that terrible to use.  

What do you think?

Weekly Exercise:

We receive over 200 emails per day.  We encourage you to answer our weekly tips, but please, if you are answering this weekly tip exercise,  identify the tip number in the subject line of your email.

This week’s quiz:

Which sentence is more concrete and specific?

  1. A) It was a meaningful meeting, and we got a lot done.  B) The meeting resolved three questions: pay scales, fringe benefit, and work loads.
  2. A) When the machine failed we lost a significant amount of production.  B) Production dropped from 8,000 to 3,000 pencils the day the electricity went out.

Quote of the week:

"A day is lost if one has not laughed."  (Unknown)

Answers to this week's quiz:

1.      B) The meeting resolved three questions: pay scales, fringe benefit, and work loads.

2.      B) Production dropped from 8,000 to 3,000 pencils the day the electricity went out.

To send the above exercise answers to Gloria for her comments and review,  copy the questions,  paste  them into an email, answer them,  and send to Marsha@basic-learning.com.

 

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By Gloria Pincu, M.A. , President of Basic Learning Systems, Inc.
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Here are some books on business writing that I recommend.

Bull's Eye Business Writing is also available from Amazon.com.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, author, Lynne Truss The Everything Resume Book by Steven Graber
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction , by William Knowlton Zinsser  The Gregg Reference Manual, by William A. Sabin 
The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, White, E. B. White  How to Take the Fog Out of Business Writing, by Robert Gunning, Richard A. Kallan (Contributor) 

More books on business writing and other business subjects  (available from Amazon.com). 

Contact Gloria Pincu at Basic Learning Systems, Inc.

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