Is it me?

When I first joined the Advertising Industry, we were severely jumped on if we did not use correct language in the advertising copy, in documents and letters and even in internal communication. Some words were simply not used.

My big bugbear as I get older (and older) is the use of "Advert" for a wide range of items where the correct word is invariably "Advertisement".

In the press, for example, it was always an "Advertisement". Of course, there are exceptions - "Commercials" for television, radio and cinema; "Billboards" or "Poster Sites/Posters" for roadside, etc.

This is not the only thing which really lets us down; there are a mass of awful pronunciations flying around - "Schedule" being pronounced "Skedual" for example.

There is also the awful, "Train Station" and not "Railway Station".

Just to widen things out, there is also "Haitch" for "H" and "Zee" for "Z" - truly dreadful Americanisms!

Actually, I could probably put up with the latter ones as "developments of the language".

But please, can all those out there who are a part of the Advertising Industry, consign "Advert" to the bin - where it belongs!