Friday, March 18, 2011

I Gots a Problem With This...

I work in advertising. Beyond that, I have a basic grasp of the English language. I understand general sentence structure, syntax and diction. Word choice really is everything when you have a limited space or time frame to get everything across to an audience.

I typically work in thirty second increments when writing commercials. I have a mere half-minute to convey a specific message, the who-what-when-where-why aspects of the business at hand and a strong call to action. Thirty seconds is frighteningly minuscule if the information is assembled coherently and depressingly endless if the information is poorly written. Maybe there isn't a right or wrong way to write advertising, but there certainly is an effective way. A good way, if you will.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Proof that 5 hour energy shots can be substituted for sleep almost successfully.

Have you ever thought about the fact that what you say does not always align with what you mean, but you say it anyway because you are caught up in the colloquial quagmire of the English language? For instance, you might announce to your friends that you need to take a shit, in the same way that you might take a piss. But are you actually taking anything in these activities? No. You are actually giving something away, losing it in fact. Yes, these resources are easily replenished, but there is no taking done on your part. And why don’t we take a vomit? It is a similar action to crapping or peeing, as you are depositing a substance into what is hopefully a toilet, but we do not take vomits. I think this has to do with the undesirable nature of vomit, but then again, who wants shit and piss?