WORD PLAY: WRITE RIGHT OR READ WRONG

Introduction: What We Have Is a Failure to Communicate?

When Strother Martin beat Paul Newman into submission in Cool Hand Luke, he probably had no idea that his sarcastic remarks would pass into cult status, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Unfortunately, wannabe writers subject their readers to intellectual beatings because they tend to underestimate the sensitivity of their readers to the subtle nuances of the words they write. Nevertheless, even if readers cannot explain why they sense a word is not quite right, they seem to know it is wrong. Further, if they believe the word is wrong, they tend to be suspicious of the content; in a few words, wrong word, erroneous message.

Corporate Communication: Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Business writers are often tasked to offer proposals, persuade readers, sell deals, and in trying to accomplish any or all of these activities, their copy often is infested with hackneyed clichés and synonomic substitution. Here lies fertile ground for improvement. My first top ten list of words and phrases culled from years of exposure to repugnant reports, pointless papers meaningless memos, and excruciating e-mails include these:

·       1-Goals vs. objectives

·       2-Strategies vs. tactics

·       3-Productivity vs. production

·       4-Efficient vs. effective

·       5-Adequate vs. sufficient

·       6-Due to vs. because of

·       7-Subsequent vs. consequent

·       8-Much vs. many

·       9-Good vs. well

·       10-If vs. when

So, let’s try to tease out the nuances of these similar synonyms.

1-Goals vs. Objectives. Generally, we achieve objectives by setting measurable goals. A company may want to increase revenues and profits, and its sales goal is, say, a 20% increase to $50 million over the prior year, its profit goal a 25% increase to $10 million over the prior year. Think of objectives as qualitative and goals as quantitative.

2-Strategies vs. Tactics. Closely related to goals and objectives, the sales strategy may encompass specific tactics to be successful. To achieve the 20% sales objective, the company’s sales strategy may consist of expanding its sales force and adding new markets. Its tactics may involve adding 5 salespeople to its Toledo market, adding 8 sales people to its Akron market, and opening a new sales office in Cleveland to be staffed by 4 salespeople. Think of strategies as what you want to do and of tactics as how you plan to conduct the strategy.

3-Production and Productivity. Often used interchangeably and incorrectly, production is more correctly a synonym for output. On the other hand, productivity is a measure of output relative to input. Strictly speaking, production is output, and productivity is the ratio of output-to-input. Josef Stalin pioneered the 5-year production plan and bragged of the USSR’s success in achieving its production goals and providing jobs to every comrade, but the staggering cost of full employment to the nation’s efficiency dragged down overall productivity and effectively forced Mikhail Gorbachev to shut down the Soviet Union in 1991. With a nod to Tennessee Ernie Ford’s 1955 #1 hit song about coal miners’ economic debt cycle, “Sixteen Tons,”The mine has boosted its daily coal production from 100 to 160 tons by doubling its workforce from five to ten miners, but daily productivity has declined from 20 tons to 16 tons per miner.

 4-Efficient vs. Effective. One of the all-time favorites of speechwriters, “efficient and effective,” they correlate well with productivity and production. The two mines in the previous example have been effective in meeting their production goals, but the more productive mine is clearly the more efficient one.

5-Adequate vs. Sufficient. Adequate is an adjective that describes a condition of something meeting the minimum requirement, Thus, if you are told that sugar in the kitchen is adequate to meet the requirements of family for the next week or so, you can assume that you have to be ready for the next purchase of sugar soon. In general, adequate suggests that the quantity is just enough for the purpose that is being talked about. Take a look at the following examples to understand the meaning and usage of the adjective:

? He has adequate computer skills for the job that has been advertised.

? The salary that was offered to him was adequate but not attractive.

Sufficient describes a condition of being as much as is needed. If something or someone is sufficient for a purpose, you can relax and breathe easy as sufficient also means someone who is competent and qualified.  Sufficient is close in meaning to adequate, but with sufficient, you are not worried. If you find a property sufficient to meet the requirements of your family, you are inclined to buy it and move in. You find it serving your purposes well enough for the time being. Sufficient is a quantity that is enough, and also more than adequate. In contrast, adequate means just able to fulfill the requirements or the purpose. If something is adequate, it implies that the quantities are not abundant or overflowing. For example, although the declining quality of the mine’s coal production is still adequate for customers’ heating needs, the mine’s stocks remain sufficient to meet the company’s production goals.

6-Due to vs. Because of. Because of is a preposition used to introduce an adverbial phrase and means “as a result of.” It is not used after a form of the verb to be.

• The borrower’s delinquency occurred because of a related company’s cash flow shortfalls.

Due to is a predicate adjective preposition that means “the result of” or “resulting from.” It is always used after a form of the verb to be.

• The borrower’s delinquency was due to a related company’s cash flow shortfalls.

The word pairs because of and due to are not interchangeable because they evolved differently in the language.  Because of grew up as an adverb, due to as an adjective. Remember that adjectives modify only nouns or pronouns; adverbs usually modify verbs. To be more precise, with their attendant words, due to and because of operate as adjectival and adverbial prepositional phrases.   These two sentences demonstrate the wrong use of both:

(1)   The company’s failure was because of the lapse in insurance coverage

(2)   The company was bankrupted due to the lapse in insurance coverage.

In sentence #1, “company’s” modifies the noun” failure.” The verb “was” is a linking verb. So, to create a sentence, we need a subject complement after the verb “was.” The adjectival prepositional phrase “due to the lapse in insurance coverage” is that complement, linked to the subject by “was.” Thus, it modifies the noun “failure.”

But in sentence #2, the noun "company" has become the sentence's subject. The verb is now “was bankrupted.” As reconstructed, “The company was bankrupted” could in fact be a complete sentence. Further, “due to” has nothing to modify; it is an adjective, so it cannot very modify the noun “company,” can it?    Neither can it refer to “was bankrupted” because adjectives do not modify verbs. Sentence #2, therefore, should read: “The company was bankrupted because of the lapse in insurance coverage.” Now the “why” of the verb “was bankrupted” is explained, properly, by an adverbial prepositional phrase, “because of.” These two quotes offer one last example of the difference:

·       “The fact that people die because of an AK-47 is not the fault of the designer, but because of politics.” Mikhail Kalashnikov

·       “But my longevity is due to my good timing.” Tony Curtis

7-Subsequent vs. Consequent. Although both a consequent event and a subsequent event occur after a prior event, subsequent merely indicates something that follows an event or occurs at a later time. Consequent indicates something which follows as a result of the earlier event or inference or natural effect, but subsequent just follows in time, coming or being after something else at any time:

·       His retirement and consequent spare time enabled him to travel more.

·       Growth was dampened by a softening of the global economy but picked up in the subsequent years as a consequence of strong growth in China.

8-Many vs. Much. “Many” is used with discrete things, i.e., countable nouns, but “much” is appropriate for sizing up a large share of a collective item, i.e., an uncountable noun.  The use of much/many must agree with the noun that it is modifying. For example, the factory produces as much as 50 tons of fuel per year because in this case, much is used to modify a non-count noun, i.e., fuel. However, the drill press burns as many as 3 barrels of oil a day, and many is used since the matter of importance is the incredible volume of three barrels. So, the quantifier many is agreeing with "barrels." Here is one more example of many/much at work:

The owner has many strong guarantors, but much of each guarantor’s net worth derives from the borrowing entity’s shareholder value.

9-Good vs. Well. Good is an adjective, and well is an adverb answering the question how. James Michener illustrated the difference in his observation of missionary altruism gave way to personal gain in his 1959 novel Hawaii: “They came to do good and did right well.”

These examples offer more examples of the difference between good and well:

·       You did a good job.

Good describes job, which is a noun, so good is an adjective.

·       You did the job well.

Well is an adverb describing how the job was performed.

With the four senses—look, smell, taste, feel—discern if these words are being used actively to decide whether to follow them with good or well. Hear is always used actively, and so well is the appropriate choice. Look well below for tips on the other senses:

·       The bakery smells good today. Good describes the bakery, not how you sniff with your nose.

·       You smell well for someone managing a fish processing facility. You are sniffing actively with your nose here, so use the adverb.

·       The truck looks good for a 25-year-old vehicle. The truck is not looking actively with its eyes, so use the adjective.

When referring to health, always use well:

·       I do not feel well today. You do not look well.

When describing someone’s emotional state, use good:

·       He doesn’t feel good about his conviction on income tax fraud.

So, how should you answer the question, “How are you?” If you think someone is asking about your physical well-being, answer, “I feel well,” or “I don’t feel well.” If someone is asking about your emotional state, answer, “I feel good about my 401K plan,” or “I don’t feel good about my upcoming annual performance review.”

10-If vs. When. Use if to introduce a possible or unreal situation or condition, and use when to refer to the time of a future certain situation or condition:

·       You can only go in if you have your ticket.

·       When I’m older, I would like to be an accountant.

These examples offer some more guidance:

·       If Joe comes back to the office, please tell him I have gone on to our client meeting. (The speaker is not certain if Joe is coming back to the office.)

·       When Joe comes back to the office, please tell him I have gone on to our client meeting. (The speaker is certain that Joe is coming back to the office.

To talk about situations and conditions that are repeated or predictable, use either if or when + present verb form:

·       You can drive if you are 17.

·       If you don’t add enough wood, the fire goes out.

·       When we go camping, we usually take two tents.

·       She gets out of breath easily when she jogs.

Just remember if and when you are puzzled about which word to use, keep this guidance handy.

Closing and Summary: Count Yourself Lucky?

Comedian Steven Wright once commented, “I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.” Good writing takes time because it is a skill improved in small increments over a lifetime of practice.  Look how far George W. Bush has come since he said, “It’s clearly a budget. It’s got a lot of numbers in it.” Basketball coach Bobby Knight puts writing in perspective, “All of us learn to write in the second grade. Most of us go on to greater things.” For those of us who are slow learners and gave up hoops for banking, this article will not make great writers out of most bankers overnight, but it can help them write better—shorter and tighter, sharper and brighter. So, count off and play ball!