Brief encounter?
Brevity is the soul of wit, said William Shakespeare. (And of lingerie, according to Dorothy Parker.) It’s also not bad for good copywriting, says independent subscriptions copywriter, Andy Maslen. *** To judge by much of the copy that I see in an …
More from the medical files
For this month’s issue, I have asked, once again, my great friend and fellow logophile, Professor Herr Doktor Andreas Maslenski, to don the Editor’s green eyeshade. Andreas has moved on from his former position as Professor of Verbal Diseases and Lexical Disabilities …
Do you dissolve your worries in a solution?
I was taking my two-year-old son to nursery this morning and we saw a lovely big truck, on the side of which was emblazoned a picture of a window frame and the deathless line “joinery solutions”. He looked up at me from …
A doctor writes
This month, I thought I’d hand Maslen on Marketing over to my old friend and sparring partner, Dr. Andreas Maslenski. Andreas is Professor of Lexical Disabilities at the Syntactical Institute of Vienna. *** Thank you, Andy – it’s a pleasure. As you …
Short and sweet
Brevity is the soul of wit, as some playwright once said. (And also of lingerie–Dorothy Parker.) It’s pretty important for copywriting as well. The first Maslen on Marketing, October 2001, was 518 words. The latest, 679. Was that 31% increase all content, …
Clichés and how to avoid them
This month, I want to bring to your attention two particular clichés, one verbal, one visual, that make a regular appearance in the tsunami of mailings, websites and adverts foisted on ‘target markets’. Why? Because with ideas – as with eggs, air …
The trouble with adjectives
A young girl was going into school to take her English exam. Her mother checked her uniform, made sure she had a pen that worked, then uttered this piece of advice: “Remember, dear: two adjectives to every noun and you’ll be sure …
Why don’t we write as we speak?
I was sitting in the cinema recently, waiting for the film to start. After the ads and the trailers, we were treated to this screen announcement: “The management regrets the necessity of informing patrons that the safety of personal valuables cannot be guaranteed and …
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