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A-Z of Bloopers and Blunders, Common Errors and Clichés
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A lot
So many people write a lot as one word instead of two. If you do this, ask yourself if you
would write alittle. Of course not, right? So please don't write alot! The same goes for
in spite of and in fact.
Above-mentioned
This is one of those old-fashioned phrases made up by our great-grandfathers to refer to
whatever was in the subject heading or in the paragraph(s) above. This phrase should not
be used in our 21st Century business writing.
Instead of - Thank you for registering for the above-mentioned workshop.
say - Thank you for registering for this workshop.
If whatever is above is plural, then use these instead of this. But never 'above',
'above-mentioned' or 'above-captioned' or even 'said'.
Accede to
This is a stuffy, great grandfather phrase that should not be used in 21st
Centure writing. Say "We cannot agree to" instead.
Affect/Effect
Affect is a verb meaning 'to influence', for example:
The fall in productivity will affect our profits this quarter.
How did the business writing workshop affect your work performance?
Effect is a noun meaning 'result', for example:
The fall in productivity will have an effect on our profits this quarter.
What effect will these changes have on your department?
Alphabet
So many people use the word alphabet wrongly. It is not correct to say There
are 7 alphabets in my name. This is wrong. There are 7 letters in my name - Shirley.
There is only one alphabet
in the English language - abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz - and there are 26 letters in the alphabet.
Mind you, I thought one of my workshop participants had a very funny answer, when he
said "No Shirley, there are 24 letters in the alphabet - ET went
home!" Nice one!
Although
When you start a sentence with 'Although' you do not need the word 'but'. For
example: Although it is very late, I will still come over to see you.
Anytime/Anytime/Anymore/Any
Anytime is an adverb. Anymore is an adverb. Any time as two words are adjective and
noun.
Examples:
You can discuss this with me anytime.
Do you have any time to discuss this with me?
I can't do this anymore.
As per
This is a simple cliché that is old-fashioned and overworked. We should not use 'per'
in our writing.
Instead of
As per your request ... say As you requested
As per our agreement ... say As we agreed
As per your instructions ... say As you instructed
As per our telecon ... say As discussed
Attached/enclosed herewith please find
Why do you need herewith - if it's not herewith, where the heck is it? Get rid of it! Also
get rid of Please find - it's passive and impersonal. Use the remaining words in any of
these ways:
I enclose / I attach
I am enclosing / I am attaching
I have enclosed / I have attached
Enclosed is / Attached is
NB: Use attach for e-mails. Use enclose for letters.
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