Art of Eloquence Blog — English RSS



Wright the Wrongs: Rewrite These Faux Facebook Statuses

Rewrite these (mostly) faux Facebook statuses so they are written in proper English. 1. goin fishin ltr 2. r u kidding me????? 3 IDK 4. marry had a litle lamb chop4 diner 5. bet u didnt' fin her their when u got they're i know you mustv lookd for a looooooooooong tim ?will u do now?   NOTE: Don’t forget to submit your communication questions to jojo@artofeloquence.com for my monthly Ask JoJo section of my blog.  I’ll pick one question per month to answer right here on the blog!  You can ask anything related to communication skills from a tip on how not to be nervous making a speech to what games your kids can play that will help them...

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On this day in 1951, I Love Lucy Premiere

I've written about my love for the I Love Lucy show before.  It was one of the most incredibly creative shows, especially with the use of language. It was the first show I can remember where language played a vital role: accents, miscommunication, culture. Last month, I wrote an article for my newsletter subscribers detailing the lessons we can about poor communication from I Love Lucy.  But this week, on the anniversary of the very first I Love Lucy show, I'd like to highlight some of the fun and creative scenes that taught us about language and effective communication. Here's Lucy making fun of Ricky's English: Ricky tells Little Ricky a bedtime story.  Can you tell which one? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ If...

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Communication Pet Peeves: The Phone Tree

Have you ever called a large company and found yourself in the middle of... THE PHONE TREE!  (phone tree...tree...tree...) If you have, you've likely experienced the frustration of one of my biggest communication pet peeves.  Desperate to find the answers you seek, you remain on the line long after the hold music has stopped.  You've pressed every button known to man and you've tried to connect with every department you think just MIGHT have something to do with your particular issue.  After endless patience and wearing your index finger down to a nub, you find you've finally reached a live body and, well...here's a little scenario I wrote that helps illustrate THE PHONE TREE.  (phone tree...tree...tree...) Press 1 if you...

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Excerpts from the English/Techanese Dictionary

For those of you following the latest in the Terrible Techie Trouble Saga, I want to give you the benefit of my experience in trying to speak Techanese: the language of the computer.  Here are some Techanese terms and their English definitions: Techanese: Windows detected a hard drive problem.  Translation: We have no idea what the problem is, but YOU'D better find out quick! Techanese: Microsoft Word has encounted a problem and must shut down. Translation: We have no idea what the problem is, but you can't use Word right now! Techanese: Memory is low, please restart your computer. Translation: We know exactly what the problem is, but you'll never be able to fix it this way! Techanese: Warning!  A critical...

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