"They are communicating a message different from the one they intended," says Simon Hanington, COO of BackDraft (http://www.backdraft.org), a professional writing consultancy based in Ottawa, ONT.
This is only one example of 40 common fumbles that account for 95% of writers' troubles, as characterized by BackDraft
.According to Hanington
, the blunder came when the company lost control of how the mailing piece's recipient perceived the message.
, what actually comes across is the company's sloppiness, making the customer wonder whether the company was even describing its furniture accurately, or how it might handle a shipping error.
While BackDraft employees will ultimately follow any rule they are given, "We pummel them with better knowledge," says Hanington
One client asked Hanington
to demonstrate the past pluperfect subjunctive tense, and was rewarded with both an example of it and a discourse on why it passed out of the English language in 1410.
If the two-year-old company doesn't work out, Hanington
has a backup plan to support himself.The department store Zellers used to feature signs in its lobby proclaiming "This store has been equipped with an electronic shoplifting device."
put it, such a machine would relieve him of the need to work for a living, and probably could be programmed not to rat him out to the authorities.