Life is good when copyeditors rule the communication process. But for important messages, such as a company’s crisis communications, the writing is often done by committee. The results can be awful, and changing anything can involve a battle. In a crisis communication, we have to deal with a … [Read more...]

Most of our important references for English usage agree that the pronouns they, their, and them are not always the plurals we expect them to be. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary gives the plural construction of they as the first definition, but it also offers a definition (1b) that matches … [Read more...]

A simple idea may have exceptions, further information, qualifications, and multiple avenues for expression. All these are easily and simultaneously understood by the author, but sometimes they all get jammed into sentences that become impenetrable to the reader. Consider this paragraph: Let us … [Read more...]