Quiz: Can you define these well-known pr...

Proverbs — they’re phrases and sayings we’ve heard for most of our lives. They use analogy to express a long-held truth or to give advice based on common sense or experience. But sometimes, if you try to define the proverb in your own words, you can’t quite figure it out. The analogy may be too obscure or the comparisons may be too abstract. According to psychology and marketing professor Dr. Art Markman — author of the book Smart Thinking and co-host of the NPR show Two Guys on Your Head — thinking about the meanings of proverbs and re-defining them is a...

10 famous misattributed quotes

Some of the quotes in our most famous memes are wrong. Wrongly attributed. Wrongly stated. Wrongly shortened. Wrongly turned into sound bites. As journalists, PR specialists, or corporate communicators, we know the importance of capturing quotes from our sources correctly. The same goes for quotes made famous on the Web or in social media . . . the quotes you’ve seen again and again. Before you incorporate these into your work, confirm who said the words and what was actually said. Below are a few of these famous false quotes, along with their corrections. (Sources:...

Holiday puns every communicator should a...

Be ready for it Now that Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are behind us, the holiday marketing marathon begins. For the next 20 or so days, there will be no escaping the holiday slogans, puns, jingles, and word play. Some of it will be clever. Some of it . . . not so much. Below are a few that fall into the “not so clever” group. You might even call them ho, ho, horrible. Puns Yule love this Be the ghost of Christmas present Fleece Navidad Let’s get elfed up Get caroled away: give the gift of music Brace your elves You’ll love our new Santa-tizer Do you...

Can you spell these brain teasers?

Last week on PR Daily, a subheading to a post used the word “brouhaha.” It was the first time I had seen the word written out. The word is common in spoken English, but less so in writing. These words can be colloquialisms or jargon and should be used with caution since not all readers will share the linguistic background necessary to grasp their meaning. However, they can spice up dull content and go a long way toward establishing variety in your writing. Here are some words for adventurous writers — along with their unusual spellings. (Definitions courtesy of...

Negative posts and reviews: How to respo...

As PR and communication professionals, we’re all adept in the art of responding to negative online reviews of our companies and clients. It’s one of our many super powers. But how do you respond to online reviews when you can’t really respond? Let me explain. In certain industries — health care, financial services, legal — privacy laws dictate that a company can’t respond to online reviews because doing so would violate the reviewer’s privacy. For example, a physician cannot respond to a patient’s online review because doing so would violate the patient’s...