Enterprise: This word is just a flowery alternative to company. Who can seriously
tell me they don??™t think of Star Trek when they read it? A prime casualty of thesaurus
abuse, try the more humane company, organization, or business instead.
Leverage: This is another alternative for use, but with major bonus pretension
points. While a real word with real meaning, it hardly ever relates to the marketing
material in which it finds itself. Your software might leverage your client??™s IT investment,
but it more likely takes advantage of that investment instead.
Best-of-breed: This one just has to stop. Probably one of the most pompous
descriptors to come into common use, best-of-breed is a term best left to award
ceremonies at dog shows. A marginally better best-in-class could be employed, or
you could just stop writing empty modifiers and talk more about the real-world
benefits of your company??™s product.
Writing with clarity also requires the immediate cease-and-desist of trying to write with
pomposity. People who try to write over the heads of their audience nearly always fall
short; after all, what is the benefit of confusing your readers with sentences thicker than
tar and as appetizing as sawdust? Removing these common sins from the copywriting toolbox
can help further the cause of intelligibility:
Invented words: Making up words not only complicates language, but suggests one
of two things: either the writer was not intelligent enough to think of a perfectly
decent word, or the company regards its self-worth high enough to warrant its own
secret language.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105