“You can quote me”
YOU’LL HAVE SEEN QUOTATION MARKS around the most unlikely of phrases. Their proper use is to indicate that a saying has been first pronounced by someone else: “Neither a borrower nor…
Author: Steve Caplin
Perfect headline fitting
NEWSPAPER SUBEDITORS GO TO GREAT LENGTHS to make headlines fit the page. This isn’t a recent innovation – it’s been happening since the beginning of commercial printing. This poster…
The red big bus
THERE’S NOTHING GRAMMATICALLY WRONG with that headline. Determiner, adjective, adjective, noun. So why is it so awkward to read? Every native English speaker instinctively knows the correct order in which…
Pissing policeman
THE WINDOW OF A POLICE STATION in Geneva, Switzerland. Is it just me, or does that graphic of a policeman pasted on the window look like he’s been taken short?
Electrical, & Co
MUCH AS I’D LIKE to admire the logo for electrical contractor Mitchell & Co – after all, it’s not often an independent electrician goes to the trouble of creating his…
Passing off
IT’S TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL to try to copy a commercial rival’s design in such a way that it will tend to confuse the buying public, leading them to associate your brand…
Meetings and action
EVERYONE LOVES A GOOD MEETING. It gives them the opportunity to nibble a few custard creams, to drink more coffee than is good for them and to play the odd surreptitious…
Speak softly
WHEN WORKPLACE DISCUSSIONS turn into arguments, tempers begin to fray and the atmosphere can quickly heat up. Pretty soon, someone’s going to start shouting. Don’t attempt to shout back. That will…
Watch the background
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENCES between professional and amateur photographers. One of the key failings of happy snappers is an inability to look at what’s going on in the background. You’ll often…
Saying no
EVERY PARENT HAS EXPERIENCED the problem of being ground down by persistent nagging. The very worst phrase you can use to your children is “Oh, all right then.” It may have…