I thought about calling this new monthly CB blog column “The Lexiphiliac Gazette.” Lexiphiliac is a cool word, and maybe even a real word (not in my Webster’s*, but plenty of bloggers seem to like it). It runs afoul, however, of The Writer’s Golden Rule: don’t use a fancy big word when a plain little [...]
Archive for February, 2011
Kindle, I Love Thee—But Sometimes I Love Thee Not
Before Kindle: A few months ago, I was on an airplane reading my old-timey paperback, while the woman next to me read her Kindle. The flight attendant walked by and asked her to turn off her Kindle, in accordance with the ban on electronic devices during takeoff and landing. I wanted to smugly wave my [...]
Uh-Oh, My 13-Year-Old Has a Facebook!–Parental Controls and Social Networking
The first thing to know about Facebook (FB) is that most FB thirteen-year-olds are actually eleven or ten … even nine (especially if they’re child number three and no one is paying attention anymore). Getting a FB page is a bonafide rite of passage, complete with celebratory input (no gifts, please) from far-flung relatives. “Welcome [...]
A Sonnet For My Valentine
Content Bureau’s unbelievably wonderful intern, Kendall Weikert of Dartmouth College, avows passion in sonnet form to a certain love object.
How to Write the Perfect Valentine
I have mixed feelings about valentines. Here’s why: A college friend’s boyfriend presented her with the creepiest Valentine’s Day gift ever: a clear wine bottle, label scrubbed off and replaced with his own charming creation entitled, “100 Mini Love Notes.” YES! This is true! Inside were…. one hundred itty bitty teeny weeny hand-inscribed love notes, [...]
The Anti-Valentine: Seven Things Not to Say or Write on February 14
You’ve made it through 364 days without killing your relationship. Good for you! Now it’s Valentine’s Day – the day your Significant Other will scrutinize everything about you. Even your grammar. If you can just get through February 14 without committing a major gaffe, you should be OK for another year. Here are seven costly [...]
New Study Proves That Success is Exciting, Contagious
One of our job perks is occasionally to be swept up in “coattails excitement.” Our clients often call on us for help when they’ve got big things brewing—they’re launching a new product, expanding into a new market, or presenting a new idea that’s tricky to explain (or all of the above, as in the case [...]
Feeding the World With Good Grammar
An ingenious teacher uses a UN-sponsored online game to teach grammar–and philanthropy.
