Author Archives: Laurel Shane

How Should You Begin a Business Email?

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Expert advice on getting your email off to a good start from the guys who wrote the book on email etiquette

Recently, I’ve been spending probably too much time considering email salutations. Back when letters were the dominant way of corresponding, the salutation was fairly straightforward. For a formal letter, the convention was to start with “Dear” and address the recipient by last name, followed by a colon.

Dear Mr. Smith:

For an informal letter, the convention was to use the person’s first name, followed by a comma.

Dear Jacob,

But email salutations, if used at all, tend to be much less formal. I find that most people start business emails with something like,

Hello Jacob,

or

Hi Jacob,

These greetings are friendly, but slightly ungrammatical. When addressing someone directly, a comma should go between the greeting and the person’s name.

Hello, Jacob,

I experimented with starting emails this way, but I thought it looked weird to have two commas. Not incorrect, just weird. Then I tried using a colon.

Hi, Jacob:

I liked this better, but I’d never seen anyone start an email this way. Unsure of what to do, I thought I’d better get some expert advice.

David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, authors of , favor starting a new email relationship the same way you would if you were writing a letter: formally.

“Email is a more urgent form of communication, and we have many more emails to answer every day than letters,” note the authors. “But it strikes us as rude to bark out someone’s name … even in an email, especially if you don’t really know your correspondent.”

But what if the person you’re emailing with is less formal? If you get an email that starts with “Hey, Bro,” and you respond with “Dear Mr. Smith,” the recipient may feel reprimanded or even insulted.

I asked Will Schwalbe what he thought about an imbalance in formality and grammaticalness. Is it better to mirror the person who’s writing to you, even if the grammar is off, or to be more formal but correct?

“You can never go wrong STARTING with ‘Dear Mr.’ or ‘Dear Ms.’ with someone you don’t know and with whom you’ve never corresponded,” he replied. “But if they write back and sign with their first name only, then go to ‘Dear FIRST NAME’ if they addressed you ‘Dear YOUR LAST NAME.’ If they started ‘Hi Will’ or ‘Hi, Will’ or ‘Hey Will’ or any variation, though, in their reply, switch to mirroring them—it’s always safe and cordial.”

Since receiving this advice, I’ve adopted a three-category approach to sending emails.

1. Starting new relationships formally

Dear Mr. Smith,

2. Beginning a new email thread with an acquaintance or colleague less formally

Dear Jacob,

3. Mirroring the opening line of incoming emails

Jake-
Hi Jacob,
[No salutation]

Do you have a preferred email salutation? Do you follow the lead of whomever you’re corresponding with? Share your strategies below.

Are You “Utilizing” Useless Buzzwords?

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Yes, my writing skills are stronger than my PowerPoint drawing skills. But you can tell it’s a bee, right? Right.

“Avoid fancy words.” This command from is excellent writing advice whether you’re publishing a novel or sending an email. They admonish, “Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.”

But somehow we all end up choosing longer, showier words to say something that could be said simply—especially in business writing. Here are just a few of the worst offenders:

Buzzwords Better Words
actionable (adj.) useful
cutting-edge (adj.) advanced
implement (v.) do
incentivize (v.) encourage
innovative (adj.) new
facilitate (v.) ease
groundbreaking (adj.) fresh
monetize (v.) profit from
paradigm (n.) model, pattern
solutioneer (n.) problem-solver
solutioneer (v.) solve
synergy (n.) teamwork
takeaway (n.) lesson
utilize (v.) use

Open one of your business documents and do a search for each of these words. Are you using buzzwords without noticing? Believe me; it’s easy to do.

Now try replacing your buzzwords with the stronger words in the right-hand column. You’ll be pleased with how much simpler and snappier your writing becomes.

Buzzwords will never go away entirely. But the less you use them, the better your business communication will be. So whenever you start reaching for one of these words, remember this post, and repeat the mantra: “Avoid fancy words.”

How should you write a.m. and p.m.?

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Bidding’s still going on eBay for this festive clock.

Being a night owl, I rarely go to bed before 1:00 AM. Or is that 1:00 A.M.? Or maybe 1:00 am? 1:00 a.m.? 1:00 am? Nope, it’s 1:00 a.m.:

The meeting was moved to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow.
My flight is at 8:10 p.m.

The abbreviations a.m. and p.m. come from the Latin phrases ante meridiem and post meridiem, meaning, respectively, “before noon” and “after noon.” As with many other Latin abbreviations that we use in English—e.g., i.e., et al., etc.—the preferred style is to use lowercase letters with periods.

The Chicago Manual of Style, the AP Stylebook, the MLA Style Manual, and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary all recommend this style. But keep in mind that it is a question of style, so some people may disagree. If your company has an in-house preference for small caps with no periods, that’s what you should use.

Related fun fact: It’s not technically correct to say 12:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m.; noon cannot logically be after noon, and midnight could be either twelve hours before or twelve hours after noon. If you want to be a real stickler, say 12:00 noon or 12:00 midnight.

Of course, we could solve both of these problems by using the twenty-four-hour clock. British people are laughing at us for even needing to consider these questions. But Americans seem about as likely to convert to the twenty-four-hour clock as to the metric system, so we’re stuck with these debates for the foreseeable future.

Do you have a preference for one of the other styles of writing a.m. and p.m.? Do you cringe when other people use 12:00 p.m.? Or do you roll your eyes about that technicality? Do you use a twenty-four-hour clock? Share your thoughts below.

Top 10 Punny Halloween Costumes

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Okay, it’s not really a costume, but hey: steam punkin!

Over on the , I’ve been counting down the days to the best holiday, Halloween, with a celebration of pun-based costumes. Just in case you missed the countdown, here are the highlights:

10. Pugkin Spice Latte

Adorable and seasonal.

9. 50 Shades of Grey

The SFW version.

8. Fantasy Football

The best defense is a good Gandalf.

7a. Reigning Cats and Dogs

7b. A Coat of Arms

The writers on New Girl clearly love a good pun. Not pictured: Bee Arthur.

6. Cleocatra

This is possibly the only costume a cat would be proud to wear. She still looks a little embarrassed, though.

5. Spelling Bees

Combining three of LJBC’s favorite things: spelling, puns, and cuteness.

4. Chicken Cord on Blue

Still scrambling to put something together? This is probably the easiest last-minute costume on this list.

3. Heisenburger

Feeling sad about the end of Breaking Bad? This will cheer you up.

2. French Kiss

Rock ‘n’ rolling all night fills them with such ennui, no?

1. Stegatortoise

Cutest costume ever. This seriously makes me want to take up crochet. And reptile ownership.

Samuel Johnson famously claimed that puns were the lowest form of humor, but I think this post proves that a good pun is its own reword. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Is Data Plural?

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Is data plural? Well, it started out that way. Data is the plural form of the Latin word datum, meaning “something given.” English adopted the word in the mid-1600s and kept the Latin construction, at least until recently. Nowadays, usage guides approve treating data as a collective noun, in the manner of information or money, and using a singular verb.

How should you use it? That depends on what you’re writing.

In formal and scientific writing, you should use a plural verb with the word data:

The polling data show the voters are still undecided.
The data indicate unemployment is still high.
What do the data say?

In informal contexts, you can use a singular verb:

The polling data shows the voters are still undecided.
The data indicates unemployment is still high.
What does the data say?

According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, “Both constructions are standard.” But deciding the level of formality you want to use can be tricky. If you treat data as plural, you risk sounding stuffy, but if you treat it as singular, you risk sounding undereducated.

Just accept that no matter which usage you pick, it’s going to sound wrong to at least a few people. So carefully consider your audience and pick the style that you think will sound correct to most of your readers.

And most importantly, be consistent with the way you use data. Make a conscious decision to treat it as plural or singular, and use it the same way every time.

Still having trouble deciding? You can avoid this dilemma altogether by rewriting the sentence so data isn’t the subject:

According to the polling data, the voters are still undecided.
Unemployment is still high, as indicated by new data.
What conclusions can we draw from the data?

—
On a related note, datum is rarely used anywhere outside of scientific journals. If you want to talk about a single unit of data, use the more familiar term datapoint.

Easy Rules for Capitalizing Titles: 4 Alternative Title Styles

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Think back to your high school English classes. You were probably taught that the proper way to write titles is to capitalize the first, last, and all major words. But what qualifies as a major word? The two style guides that recommend this structure don’t quite agree.

The MLA Style Manual—which is used in scholarly publishing—says to lowercase all articles (a, an, the); prepositions (against, as, between, in, of, to); coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet); and the to in infinitives (The Courage to Be).

The Chicago Manual of Style—which is used in book publishing—makes it more complicated. The guide agrees with the MLA about articles and the to in infinitives, but it says to capitalize propositions when they’re being used adverbially or adjectivally (Look Up, the On Button). And it only recommends lowercasing the conjunctions and, but, for, or, and nor.

So the correct title capitalization will vary slightly, depending on which of these styles you’re using:

MLA: The Neighbors Came over and Complained about the Loud Music, so We Turned down the Volume

Chicago: The Neighbors Came Over and Complained about the Loud Music, So We Turned Down the Volume

Ugh. I’ll just say it: No one apart from an editor who specializes in one of these styles wants to waste time trying to figure out these rules. Even if you have all the parts of speech memorized—and that’s a big if—are you going to sit around pondering whether a preposition is being used adverbially? Of course not. You have better things to do.

Here’s the good news: There are other rules about capitalizing titles, and they’re a lot easier to follow. If you’re thinking about how to capitalize titles on your website (or report or presentation), here are a few different options you should consider:

1) You could use sentence-style capitalization
This is the format currently favored by the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, which makes headline capitalization much simpler than the other style guides do: “Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.” , one of many newspapers that follow AP style, has numerous examples of sentence-case headlines.

2) You Could Capitalize Every Word In The Title
Many primarily online publications, such as and , favor this style. It looks more formal than sentence case, but it’s just as easy to do.

3) YOU COULD MAKE THE TITLE UPPERCASE
This style works great for short titles, such as the navigation bar and page headers of a website (e.g., this website). But use this style carefully; if you have a lot of titles on a page, using all caps will make visitors think you’re shouting at them.

4) you could make the title lowercase
Some youth-oriented companies, such as , lowercase every word in the title, proper nouns and all. This style is an affectation, so if you’re going to use it, you need to think about your audience: Older people will hate it, and younger people may find it patronizing. You’re running a real risk of coming off like the dad who tries to use modern slang to show his teenager that he’s cool. Use with caution.

Very close observers may notice that I don’t follow my own advice when I write blog headlines. Why? Mostly because many clients expect me to use a more traditional headline style, and I want to show that I know how. And also because I actually like figuring out what part of speech a word is. But you don’t have to be like me! Save yourself time and effort by using one of these easier title styles.

Twice a Month: Biweekly or Bimonthly?

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I created a recurring reminder in my iPhone the other day, and I set it to repeat Every 2 Weeks. The calendar app shortened it to Biweekly, and I thought, Wait, is that right? Which word means twice a month: biweekly or bimonthly?

It turns out I’m not the only person who has trouble with this distinction. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, “Many people are puzzled about bimonthly and biweekly, which are often ambiguous because they are formed from both senses [‘every two’ and ‘two times’] of bi-. This ambiguity has been in existence for nearly a century and a half and cannot be eliminated by the dictionary.”

Okay, if the dictionary can’t solve it, what are we supposed to do? Some usage guides suggest using bi- to mean “every other” and semi- to mean “twice a.” This technique works fairly well for weeks and months, but it falls apart at years.

Semiweekly Twice a week
Biweekly Every other week
Semimonthly* Twice a month
Bimonthly Every other month
Biannually Twice a year
Biennially Every other year

*What’s the difference between biweekly and semimonthly? This comes up most often with payroll. A company that issues paychecks every other Friday pays biweekly, and a company that issues paychecks on the first and fifteenth pays semimonthly.

Even if you follow this usage guide exactly, you face a problem: Your audience probably doesn’t know these distinctions. As Merriam-Webster points out, “The chief difficulty is that many users of these words assume that others know exactly what they mean, and they do not bother to make their context clear.”

Your best bet, then, is to skip these words altogether and just use the phrases in the right-hand column (“twice a month,” “every other year,” etc.). Everyone will understand what you mean—including you.

National Punctuation Day Celebration: Apostrophes

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Today (September 24) is , the celebration of correct punctuation. In honor of the occasion, I penned an ode to the apostrophe—when to use it and, more importantly, when to leave it out. The post is over at Sin and Syntax, an excellent resource for writers. Here’s a taste:

The apostrophe has been giving writers trouble ever since it first appeared in English in the 16th century. In this century, stray apostrophes became so irksome in documents of the English town of Nottingham that its City Council instituted an “.” (Every time a staffer made an error with this curvy little mark, he or she had to put £1 into the box, with proceeds to go to charity.)

5 Surprising Places You Need a Comma

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The comma is one of the most misused punctuation marks, but—unlike its dreaded cousin the semicolon—it’s absolutely necessary to everyday writing. Since there’s no getting around it, you should probably learn to use commas correctly.

But there are so many rules about comma use that they’re difficult to remember. My go-to grammar guide devotes nineteen pages to commas. Who apart from hardcore grammar nerds has time to learn this stuff?

The good news is that you’re already using commas correctly most of the time. The old rule of thumb is to insert a comma everywhere you naturally pause when speaking. It’s not a perfect way to decide whether to insert a comma, but it will help you get it right most of the time.

There are some places you need a comma that you probably won’t guess if you’re doing it by ear, though. Don’t forget to put a comma in these five places:

1. After a location or date that contains a comma. Most people are comfortable writing that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. And you know to say that the capital of the US is Washington, DC.

But if it falls in the middle of a sentence, you need to insert a comma at the end of the date or location.

On July 4, 1776, the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence.
Washington, DC, is the capital of the US.

2. After someone’s title. As with the error with dates and locations, many writers leave off the second comma after a person’s title. If the title follows the name, it needs to be set off by a pair of commas.

Stephen T. Colbert, DFA, holds an honorary degree from Knox College.
Stephen W. Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA, holds four honorary titles.

3. Introducing a direct quotation. If you set up a direct quotation with a verb, you need a comma before the quotation starts.

J.M. Tyree observes, “The Death Star clearly has a garbage disposal problem.”
Jack Handy points out, “If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose.”

4. Continuing from a direct quotation. If your sentence keeps going after the quotation ends, put a comma at the end of the quotation (inside the quotation marks).

“The Death Star clearly has a garbage disposal problem,” observes J.M. Tyree.
“If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose,” points out Jack Handy.

But note: If the quotation ends with a question mark or an exclamation mark, leave out the comma.

“Holey rusted metal, Batman!” exclaims Chris O’Donnell’s Robin in one of the worst puns in a script full of them.
“How can a squirrel look cheap?” asks Michael Ian Black rhetorically.

5. After e.g. and i.e. When you use these abbreviations, make them lowercase with periods. And then insert a comma.

My favorite wild animals are the dangerous ones (e.g., polar bears, great white sharks, and porcupines).
I’ve learned a lot from the Muppets (i.e., it’s not easy being green).

Want to learn more about comma use? Don’t miss these follow-up posts:

3 Surprising Places You Don’t Need a Comma

3 Places You Can Use a Comma, or Not

Let’s vs. Lets

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Since the name of this blog is Let’s Just Be Clear, I figured I should start by highlighting a commonly confused pair of words: let’s and lets.

Let’s is a contraction of let us, an imperative phrase that people use to make or respond to suggestions. The apostrophe is there to indicate that some characters have been omitted (in this case, the space and the u).

Let’s go to the movies.
Let’s pretend we’re kangaroos.
Let’s eat breakfast food for dinner.

Lets is a verb that usually means allows or permits.

He lets his dog sit on the couch.
Jacob works hard all week, but on the weekends he lets it all hang out.
The judge lets criminals off easy.

I have a few tricks for figuring out whether to use let’s or lets. The first thing to check is where the word appears in the sentence. Let’s usually starts a sentence, and lets usually comes later, as in the examples above. This is not a foolproof test, though; there are exceptions both ways:

Don’t let’s get ahead of ourselves.
Lets his lawn grow for months without cutting it, does he? That’s not very neighborly.

Another test to try is to plug in let us and see if it works. I like to imagine it in my snobbiest accent:

✓ Let us adjourn for the day.
✓ Let us imagine we could start all over again.
X My roommate just let us the dishes pile up.

You can also try substituting allows [… to]:

✓ Some people handle rejection well, but Sophia allows it to get to her.
✓ Our boss allows us to leave early on most Fridays.
X “Should we get started?” “Yes, allows to.”

Whenever you are unsure of whether to use let’s or lets, try these tests, and you’ll probably quickly find the correct spelling.

Knowing when to throw in an apostrophe and when to leave it out is hard for many people, and I’ll address the broader issue and other examples in future blogs.

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