Tag Archives: grammar

Language Matters

BY B. JAY COOPER
Reprinted from BJayCooper.com

I’ve been involved with writing of one sort or another for more than 45 years – I was a reporter, in press work in politics, and a public relations consultant. I have been involved with hiring folks who need to write (from speechwriters to op-ed writers to just people who can send an understandable email to others) for almost as many years.

I came to the conclusion long ago that writing is becoming, unfortunately, a lost art/craft. Finding good writers is very hard. I’ve always thought it’s because our schools don’t focus anymore on the three R’s (readin’, ritin’, ‘rithmetic) like when I was a kid. There’s a piece in the New York Times today written by someone who’s been a college professor and laments, in the article, the loss of humanities majors as young folks focus on majors more likely to pay off quickly in a job to pay their bills and make their parents proud (both excellent goals). Continue reading

Take a Listen

BY B. JAY COOPER
Reprinted from BJayCooper.com

Those who know me will tell you that I can be quite obnoxious when it comes to word usage. Use a word in a weird way  and I’ll do an annoying rant for hours. Let me be clear, I am not a grammarian. I am not good at punctuation (I once lost a promotion because I was told I didn’t know how to use commas.) But I do favor plain English and not bastardizing the language to puff myself up.

All that as background before I rail about “take a listen” which I hear nearly every time I turn on a newscast lately. Chuck Todd just said “take a listen” on NBC’s Nightly News as he introduced a piece. I think every reporter on CNN  Continue reading