On Words and Business

Two words that individuals, companies, organizations, or countries should never use to define themselves: humble and historic.

What are some others?

The Scrips National Spelling Bee finals are tonight. Forty-one contestants will duke it out for the top prize.

The winning words for the last 10 champions. Impressive. (I’ve never heard or read a single one of these words before!)

logorrhea
demarche
succedaneum
prospicience
pococurante
autochthonous
appoggiatura
Ursprache
serrefine
guerdon

Visit the website and test your spelling prowess.

This swine flu outbreak is an emerging story and all over the news. And certainly the total effect can’t be known yet. But let’s face it…we’re all much more at risk for the regular variety of flu. Yet rarely does anyone other than public health professionals get up in arms about it.

We humans are pretty bad at assessing true risk, since the more familiar we are with something (like the regular old flu) the less threatening it seems. And the more unusual the event (swine or avian for example), the riskier and scarier it seems, even if it isn’t truly more dangerous.

So as a news story (versus a personal or virological one) this is an interesting case. How can the media describe it and assign it the right amount of urgency, without tripping our fear response?

Any thoughts?

50 years old today!

Read about it on NPR…

Some inspirational and well written words:

“Our challenges may be new.  The instruments with which we meet them may be new.  But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old.  These things are true.  They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.

What is demanded, then, is a return to these truths.  What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.”

From the Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama

Can we please stop the practice of describing groups of people as including “women and children.”

Regarding the plane accident last Thursday, a CNN reporter described the victims as “155 people, including women and children.”

I assume that a group of people includes women, men, and children, unless otherwise noted–such as a group of 155 men or a group of 155 girls.

The word people is a collective noun describing human beings and that includes men, women, girls, and boys.

On top of that, someone was quoted as saying “…women and children first, right?”

In the past, hundreds (or not so many) years ago when women had fewer rights, did not fight in combat, fly planes, work as firefighters, or drive race cars perhaps (perhaps) women needed special protection and their presence was rare or noteworthy enough to call it out. However, if we ever did that kind of attention and protection, we don’t anymore.

Children, on the other hand, do need protection and special treatment. So let’s replace the “women and children first” sentiment to “children first.” And let’s assume women can take care of themselves. And let’s assume that groups of people include all types of people–women, men, girls, and boys. But if it’s important to the story, feel free to describe the group of people as “including children.”