Content Archives - Page 2 of 3

The best stories are the ones that stay with us and evoke our imaginations. From the moment I opened the first page of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as a child, I immediately formed an image in my head of how the Dursley family looked and went about their daily lives. The written word has a unique ability to allow us to decide how a story visually comes together. While the content I write in my role at Whiteoaks isn’t based on fiction, telling a story or narrative in an article or blog is just as important to allow the message to sink in for the reader.

Thursday 4^th March 2021 marks the annual celebration of World Book Day. At the primary school I went to, this day usually turned into a week of events that celebrated everything about books, culminating in us all dressing up as our favourite fictional character at the end of the week. While World Book Day will take on a slightly different form this year, its continuing popularity highlights the enduring power of storytelling via the words on a page.

It’s almost hard to believe that iconic stories such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were written as long ago as the 1930s and 40s by J.R.R. Tolkien, and continue to sell strongly today, partly thanks to the highly successful film adaptations directed by Peter Jackson. A first edition hardback book of Philosopher’s Stone recently sold for a staggering £60,000 at auction in the UK thanks to the popularity of the Wizarding World franchise. Star Wars, while most famous as a film series devised by George Lucas, also has an expanded universe told via a series of novels.

A look at some of the other most popular film and TV franchises tells its own story in how books have impacted our modern media. The James Bond franchise, The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones all started life as written stories. And it’s not just fiction that can inspire us. Famous figures from the world of music, sport, film, fashion and numerous other industries have put their thoughts and feelings down on paper for readers to delve into.

2020 print book sales in the UK were up 5.2% on 2019 levels, hitting a total of 202 million units. Over the years, physical books have managed to weather the storm of market competition from devices such as Amazon’s Kindle to remain a go-to form of consuming content. But what is it about books that ensures their lasting appeal? With many major novels now adapted into TV or film form, what keeps people coming back to the printed page to consume a story?

From my perspective, its lasting appeal is due to a mix of childhood nostalgia and the chance to experience a different world. The last year has proven to be a difficult one for many, and to engage in a story that’s far removed from the doom and gloom of what can be reported in the news is a great opportunity for us to look after our wellbeing. So next time you’re searching for a great story, look for a book.

Our specialist Content Creators are quiet wordsmiths devoted to perfecting articles, blogs and marketing materials that hit the spot for clients. When Christmas comes they like to relax by reading about serial killers, global wars and the antics of millionaire footballers. Oh, they also like napping and watching old family favourites on the telly. This year is no exception, despite the strange circumstances of the pandemic.

Here is what they are up to:

Ollie:
This Christmas I plan to re-read ‘Kill Your Friends’ by John Niven. It’s similar to American Psycho but set against a ‘Cool Britannia’ backdrop with plenty of 90s pop culture references and a generous side trimming of acerbic wit. Having grown up in the 90s, I really enjoyed reading this the first time around, although my experience of the era didn’t involve nearly half as much depravity. It’s certainly not your ordinary Christmas read, but this isn’t going to be any ordinary Christmas.

I’m not too fussed about watching anything over the holidays – we’ve binged a lot of TV though the different lockdowns and tiers of 2020 and I’ll be grateful for a break from screen time. The other members of my household can fight over the TV remote while the dog and I scuffle over space to nap on the sofa.

Richard:
I’m currently reading The Second World War, an epic history of the last global conflict by one of our best military historians, Antony Beevor. It is very well written throughout and pays equal attention to the stories of civilians in the conflict zones as to those of the combatants, which really helps to bring the whole narrative to life.

In terms of TV, one of the best series I’ve watched this year is ‘Dark’, a German science fiction thriller which follows the lives of different families in one small town in the present day and also at various points in the past as they travel back in time. It has quite a claustrophobic feel to it and is unsettling, tense and gripping all the way through.

Alex:
This year, much of my TV watching has been driven by the launch of Disney+. For me, The Mandalorian successfully balanced new storytelling with lots of references to the original trilogy of films for longtime Star Wars fans. I also enjoyed watching The World According to Jeff Goldblum, where the actor best known for starring in Jurassic Park travels the world to learn the history around topics such as jeans, tattoos and ice cream.

For some light relief from a troubling year, I took the opportunity to delve into a humorous book by reading Peter Crouch – How to be a footballer, where the infamously tall former striker takes a self-deprecating look at his efforts to fit in with the “footballer’s lifestyle”. Well worth a read for anyone with an interest in the sport. For those who have already checked it out, he also has his own podcast!

Nick:
For what threatens to be the least Christmassy-feeling Christmas in living memory I will be making a concerted effort to fill our house with as much of the usual ‘magical atmosphere’ as possible by playing an unrelenting line-up of classic Christmas films and music. It will start with what must rank as one of the most hilarious ‘Christmas flicks’ of all time – Home Alone (perhaps Joe Pesci’s career standout role). Then my long-suffering kids will yet again be subjected to watching some of my favourite childhood films, along with a few favourites of their own (if there’s enough time).

Of course, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without seeing A Charlie Brown Christmas at least once and listening to its incredibly evocative soundtrack by the Vince Garibaldi Trio (surely the best Christmas album ever) at least 10 times on its own. Once these have all been checked off, we will all get to enjoy Gremlins, Muppets Christmas Carol, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and A Nightmare Before Christmas. On the listening side, James Brown’s Funky Christmas will get lots of play, along with Snoop Dogg Presents Christmas in tha Dogg House and A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.

Hugh:
It’s beginning to look a lot like… house arrest, so books are a welcome escape. I’ve decided to read previous Christmas gifts I never got round to, which includes “How not to be wrong. The hidden maths of everyday life.” This is a challenging subject matter for a functioning innumerate. So far I’ve enjoyed Zeno’s paradox and learning what “the math” told Americans about where to stick armour-plating on a fighter aircraft. I don’t, however, expect to be conversant with Python, R, random forests or indeed, any data science techniques by twelfth night. Yet although I rely on clients for specialist knowledge and insight, there’s no reason to struggle with Bayesian Inference or hyperbolic geometry (we’ll see if I get that far). I have no idea what I will watch to extract value from the TV licence. Too busy doing sums, I hope.

When writing about tech, it pays to not sound like a robot. Engaging content needs to use a tone of voice that is human and conversational, yet a common misconception is that active voice is everything and passive voice has no place in content today.

Active voice is where the subject of the sentence is performing the action, such as: the cat sat on the mat. Passive voice is where the subject of the sentence has something done to it by something or someone, such as: the mat was sat on by the cat.

Active voice is direct, punchy and gets to the point. It’s great for firmly putting key points and messages across in a strong and confident manner. But it’s not so great when it’s over-used. This can lead to entire articles reading like a series of bold statements and this can be monotonous for the reader.

Here’s a tech-focused example of active vs passive:

Active voice: The IT team can work on more meaningful projects with the solution in place.

Passive voice: The solution allows the IT team to work on more meaningful projects.

As you can see in the tech-focused example, the passive sentence still works. It’s not going to confuse the reader and, if it’s included in a paragraph that’s already leaning heavily on active voice, it can help that paragraph to flow a lot better. Well-crafted content can and should use passive sentences to complement the active sentences.

Say you’re writing about a solution that applies automation to workplace processes. You’re probably trying to pacify an audience that is worried about human jobs being taken over by computers, so you don’t want your content to appear as though it’s been written by an AI.

The truth is, there really are no rules when it comes to style. It’s your choice as a writer to decide what works best. However, using both active voice and passive in moderation is always going to help you write better content as opposed to sticking purely to active voice.

This very blog switches heavily between active and passive voice, so if you’re still reading, here’s your proof that passive voice is not a content killer.

If you’re struggling to articulate the benefits of your product or service through the power of words – or content writing seems like witchcraft to you – enlist the help of the experts. We’ve got a few.

The press release has long been a staple of PR, first coming into use in 1906, when Ivy Lee, the PR representative of the Pennsylvania Railroad developed it to disseminate information following a train derailment. Knowing how damaging the accident could be for the company, Lee wanted to get the truth out quickly before the rumour mill could begin.

Back in 1906, when newspapers were the main source of information, the merits of the press release as a method for businesses and brands to spread information was clear. But, in this day and age where we receive our news instantly, can watch global events unfold in real-time and find out all there is to know about a subject in a matter of minutes, is there still a place for the press release?

Cutting through the fake news

We’re currently living through the era of fake news, with almost half (45%) of adults in the UK believing they encounter fake news every single day. It’s a time when a rumour can be taken as gospel due to it trending on Twitter or a celebrity discussing it on their Instagram story.

I would argue that this makes an even stronger case for the use of press releases, particularly when it comes to crisis comms, as they offer a means through which businesses can communicate important information and cut through the online noise. While social media platforms, for example, can be a force for good, in times of crisis, they can also be a hive of misinformation.

Issuing a press release during a crisis can help businesses get their story out there clearly and succinctly. It allows them to take control of the narrative, separate fact from fiction, and target key media with their messaging.

Yet, while I believe there is certainly still a place for the press release in PR, it would be foolish to think it hasn’t evolved. I think it’s time to reconsider whether it is the best vehicle for disseminating information by looking at what you’re trying to achieve.

When to issue a press release

According to research, 63% of global respondents said press releases were the preferred method to receive news and 44% of journalists think press releases are the most trustworthy source of brand-related information. That said, with journalists receiving up to 200 pitches a day, for them to cover a press release the story needs to be compelling.

Consequently, before sending out a release, it’s vital to consider whether the information is actually news, or whether it’s more about increasing awareness of a brand, as the outcome is likely going to differ depending on the focus of the piece.

For instance, distributing a press release about the opening of a new office or a low-level appointment might help grow awareness of a business among the journalists that receive it, rather than gaining coverage. Conversely, a news release announcing the findings of a research study or issuing a statement after a crisis may garner significant pickup.

Ultimately, there is no harm in sending out a carefully crafted press release, as long as the expectations of what it is likely to achieve are realistic. And, rather than seeing press releases as standalone pieces, incorporating them to larger integrated marketing campaigns can be incredibly effective.

Let’s take the research press release as an example, this asset can be used to launch an entire marketing campaign. By sending this type of press release out, you’re alerting journalists not only to the information in the release, but also giving them a glimpse of the bigger picture and what else you have to offer. In an ideal world, this could lead to the journalist following up for subsequent related content pieces or perhaps even an interview with the subject matter expert quoted in the release.

Integrated marketing campaigns as the way forward

With a wide range of resources and content types at our disposal, it’s possible to tailor the content you create not only to the messages you wanting to convey, but also to the audiences you want to target and how you want to reach them. By adopting this approach, PR and marketing campaigns will become multi-faceted and have a broader appeal.

So, while press releases are just one of the tools in our arsenal, as the world of PR is so fast-paced, they can be the ideal way to share information quickly and efficiently. It’s just about considering what you want to achieve and whether that format will get you there.

Long live the press release!

By Hannah Buckley, Head of Content

It’s those three short words many of us have come to recoil from – ‘the new normal’. We’d not heard this phrase much before 2020 and we’d be happy if we never heard the world’s most famous oxymoron again. Who was it who sanctioned taking the word ‘normal’ from the adjective box and dumping it into the one for nouns where it really doesn’t belong? Language pedants should be up in arms! Besides, surely ‘abnormal’ would be more appropriate to describe a situation that nobody could consider normal in any sense of the word.

What the new normal actually means has been changing seemingly every week and has extended to being asked not to scream on rollercoasters. It’s such a powerful phrase because it conveys the sense of inevitability – it’s the new normal so get used to it. This is perhaps the reason so many object to its overuse in the media, and by politicians and even scientists. There is an implied sense of permanence and we are left wondering if the old normal will ever come back.

The language of the lockdown is a fascinating subject to observe, especially as a writer, as a whole new vocabulary has sprung up over the past few months. Language has a powerful effect on our emotions and when we are exposed to negative vocabulary such as crisis, restrictions, quarantine, panic, unprecedented and death count, day after day after day it is bound to sink into our subconscious and have an effect on our psyche.

Many also question the widespread use of the term ‘lockdown’ itself. Dictionary definition, “the confining of prisoners to their cells, typically in order to regain control during a riot.” It is one thing to voluntarily stay at home to fight the spread of the virus, but ‘lockdown’ can conjure up feelings of being under house arrest in one’s own home and removes the concept of volunteering from the equation.

Another phrase nobody had ever heard before this year is social distancing – another oxymoron, which should have been dubbed anti-social distancing due to the effect it has on human relationships. Then there is the increasing use of uncertain, especially ‘we’re living in uncertain times’ and ‘we are uncertain of the outcome’. Similar to ‘unprecedented’, these words have dozens of synonyms, but the politicians and media have come to rely on these phrases to push home the point. It would be nice if they could have the imagination to conjure up some more uplifting alternatives.

On a lighter linguistical note, some creative souls have come up with a whole dictionary’s worth of lockdown lingo which may or may not end up in the dictionaries published in 2021, but can certainly give us a chuckle. Of the lockdown slang which has sprung up all over the place online, some of the stand outs include:

Coronials – “The generation born between December 2020 and March 2021, as a result of the enforced quarantining of their parents due to the Covid-19 pandemic” – Urban Dictionary.
Quarantinis – “experimental cocktails mixed from whatever random ingredients you have left in the house.”
Coronacoaster – “The ups and downs of your mood during the pandemic. You’re loving lockdown one minute but suddenly weepy with anxiety the next. It truly is “an emotional coronacoaster”.
Blue Skype thinking – “a work brainstorming session which takes place over a videoconferencing app.”

With so much negativity around the language of lockdown, finding such humour in it is important to maintaining our psychological wellbeing and to deal with adversity during what hopefully will actually turn out to be only a ‘temporary normal.’

There have always been very defined lines between PR and marketing — each camp clear on their role within the business, their relationship with the media and stakeholders and which activities they were responsible for. Then the new kid on the block arrived and obliterated those lines. The new kid on the block? I’m talking about social media. Although not the sole driver for a more integrated approach to communications, over the last decade all three disciplines have evolved in concert with one another, providing a new world of opportunity for brands to distinguish themselves in a crowded marketplace.

Integrated marketing is certainly nothing new, but increasingly it is becoming more important for businesses to get right.

This sentiment was reflected in the findings of our recent research — The Secrets of Tech Growth — where we spoke to leaders from fast-growth tech firms about how they achieved that growth, what challenges they overcame (and continue to overcome) and what role tech PR and integrated marketing played in all of that.

Joined up for success

Unsurprisingly, both disciplines had crucial roles to play, at different times in a company’s journey to success, separately, and as part of integrated campaigns. With social media being a key ingredient too — something my colleague Emma Walker talks about in her article: Social media: not just the garnish in the sustainable business growth cocktail.

So apart from the fact that social media has changed the comms landscape, why is integrated marketing taking such a focus today, especially when it comes to building B2B businesses and sustaining growth?

There are three factors that make integrated marketing so attractive: budget, objectives and audiences.

Make the most out of your budget

Integrated campaigns help you get the most out of your budgets and maximise your return on investment. For growing companies this is especially important because not all of them have significant funding behind them. Overall, you can re-use and re-purpose your content and design assets across streams, and use PR or earned elements to set the stage for wider marketing efforts when it comes to aspects like nurturing leads. Optimising content across disciplines and channels makes this approach a much more cost-effective model.

Hit multiple targets

An integrated approach to campaigning also means that you can reach more than one goal. Why is this important? Because all businesses are different and have varied goals that communication assets will help them achieve. Just like the lines are blurred between disciplines, these goals often overlap and aren’t necessarily always effective when viewed in isolation. So whether you’re creating awareness, building trust, lead generation, general education or making your business look attractive for investors, combining PR, marketing and social elements enables you to hit those objectives through the use of targeted, audience-centric content and relevant, consistent messaging. From one central theme or idea, you can generate different content assets that can be leveraged across channels and fulfil your different objectives.

Reach all your audiences

This ties in to the third element, which is audiences. Just as your campaigns can have multiple objectives, your business is likely to want to reach multiple audiences. In addition, not all of your target audiences will engage with your brand and its content in the same way on the same platform.

Integrated campaigns ensure that you can reach not only your different audiences, but the right personas within them by providing comms through a channel (or combination of channels) that most appeals to them, be it thought leadership through media, infographics and videos delivered by social media, or whitepapers and blogs via email or content marketing efforts.

Where to start

Taking an integrated approach to your next campaign needn’t be challenging. Before you start make sure you’re clear on your objectives for the campaign. Then make sure these objectives are aligned to the wider goals of the business. This not only helps you create the right tone and messaging for maximum impact, but can also help secure budget and buy-in from senior management or the board when you’re looking to expand or start new projects. In addition, make sure you understand your audience so that you can develop personas to guide your content development and choose the right channels that will get the right message to the right audience. Finally, evaluate and measure your communications campaign throughout the lifecycle of the activity, not just at the end. This will help you make changes as you go in order to reach your objectives and will also help in demonstrating the efficacy of the campaign and ROI.

To find out more on our approach to integrated marketing and how we use our 360 Framework to shape the strategic, tactical and delivery elements of every campaign, get in touch with us.

As Easter fast approaches, we’re all wondering what to do with ourselves now that the shops are shut, the beaches are a no-go and heading outside is a once-a-day luxury.

But hope is not lost. As we all reach for the TV remote to settle in for a four-day marathon session, leave it to a team of booklovers to prepare the itinerary for a long lockdown weekend. Yes, that’s right – the Whiteoaks content team, affectionately known as the Writers’ Pen, is on hand to fill the weekend with all the things they’re watching, reading and planning to do… indoors.

Hannah

I’m a big TV fan at the best of times, so the current situation is giving me even more time to work my way through different series. I’ve just finished Hunters on Amazon Prime Video, which stars Al Pacino as the head of a group of Nazi hunters in 1970s New York. I loved everything about it – from the fashion and glimpses of retro New York, to the twists and turns and backstories of each of the characters. Next, I’m going to re-watch Spooks on BBC iPlayer. It used to be my favourite programme, so I’m pleased that the BBC has made it and many other older series available online – something I discussed in a recent blog.

I’m also currently reading Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams, I’m about halfway through and really enjoying it. It’s set in and around South London, which is where I’m from so I like that I can picture a lot of the places the main character visits. It’s also a refreshing portrait of being a young woman in today’s society.

Richard

I’ve been listening to even more music than usual in the current lockdown. I’m currently revisiting some of the best tunes of one of my favourite 1980s bands, the Go-Betweens. Their music is very accessible but also blessed with clever, literate lyrics. The compilation Bellavista Terrace is indispensable but all the albums, even those in the 2000s, are well worth listening to also. It is also great to have a chance to do a little more reading for pleasure and I’m currently also pressing on through an excellent history of the Second World War by Anthony Beevor, which I started some time ago. Next on my list is David Goldblatt’s ‘The Game of our Lives’ which is a deconstruction of football in the Premier League era. On the television front, I’m catching up with ‘Life on Mars’ which I somehow missed first time around but is very funny, imaginative, well-written and well-acted.

Ollie

I’ll be spending the long lockdown weekend living vicariously through an Antonio Tabucchi novel called Pereira Maintains. I’ve chosen this book because it’s set in Lisbon and I was supposed to spend last weekend in the nearby coastal town of Sesimbra. The novel is about a political awakening and an act of rebellion – not exactly how I would’ve spent my time in Portugal but I’m sure it will make for a gripping read. After the sun’s gone down I’ll be retreating indoors to watch Ozark – one of Netflix’s best creations, in my opinion. I’ll also be racking up the points playing against my girlfriend on Drawize, which is basically a low-grade online version of Pictionary, and competing against my friends in a pub quiz on Houseparty.

Hugh

I’m trapped in Cornwall for the lockdown, which isn’t a bad thing. Although, a closed pub makes for a monastic experience. I should attack the three-cornered leeks and a bonfire of bay cuttings as part of garden-clearance operations. But I know I’ll bask in the sun reading newspapers, plodding on with Madame Bovary, watching trawlers and netters go out to sea and observing birds. And, the sunny weather has put me in the mood for PG Wodehouse. Let’s hope it lasts…

Nick

With two young kids demanding to be constantly entertained, the long lockdown weekend requires some serious forward planning to keep everybody happy. Thankfully, in recent weeks I have managed to persuade (gently force) my nine-year-old and four-year-old to try watch the first batch of films Netflix is showing by Japanese animation wizard Studio Ghibli, directed by one of my cultural icons Hayao Miyazaki. I started them off with the wonderful, if completely insane, My Neighbour Totoro. It features a giant ‘cat-bus’ – a large creature, depicted as a grinning, twelve-legged cat with a hollow body that serves as a bus, complete with windows and seats coated with fur. They loved it., In the same manner I’ve successfully got the kids to like my favourite films, ET, Back to the Future, The Goonies, etc. I have also managed to get them to enjoy my favourite classic video games – we are talking Super Mario, Zelda, Mario Party (if you know, you know!) This means the long weekend will also see some quality family gaming time where I get to be Competitive Dad for a few hours.

Ellie

Now, I love nothing more than a Netflix blow-out of a weekend. So, I think I’ll spend my days finishing the Netflix limited series Tiger King (if you haven’t seen it… well. You couldn’t make it up) and continuing with my quest to watch every episode of BBC’s Waterloo Road, which my flatmate and I have been steadily working our way through for the last few months. The acting is questionable but the plotlines (collective gasp) are enough to keep you hooked – and as a die-hard fan of soap operas, it’s fair to say I love a bit of unrealistic drama!

I also received a lovely birthday present last year, which was a book-box containing all the things a bookworm needs to survive in captivity – biscuits, tea and a brilliant thriller. I’m planning to lose myself in the twists and turns of The Fear by C. L. Taylor, and if I finish that, I’ll probably dig out my old favourite – Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. This is a novel I already know back to front but what can I say – when a book is that good, it’s worth rereading time and again.

And if I should have the energy after all that, I’ll break out my workout DVDs and irritate my neighbours downstairs by star-jumping repeatedly on the spot. Got to work off those biscuits in time for summer!

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Nice idea… but really, who came up with that?

The human body has a remarkable ability to recover from physical injuries, and often without lasting damage. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule – if ever you’ve landed awkwardly on your ankle while dancing in your university kitchen, you’ll know what I mean. But if you’ve tripped over a stick or fallen on a stone and have, in fact, broken a bone, it’s usually a case of six weeks, cast off, and you can trot off into the sunset on your newly healed extremities.

Now, I love the occasional proverb. But this one sticks (pardon the pun) in my mind for all the wrong reasons. While it’s true that words themselves aren’t capable of inflicting physical harm, they are perhaps the most formidable weapon in anyone’s armoury.

“The pen is mightier than the sword.” – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1839

Ah, another of my favourites.

I won’t spam you with any more quotes, I promise. But as a writer, voracious reader and passionate believer in the power of the written word, I think our good friend Mr Bulwer-Lytton was spot on with this one.

Because words are the backbone of everything. Whether you want to communicate important information, influence perspectives or change lives, it’s the words you choose, the content you write, and the things you say to people that matter.

Let’s take business as an example. Messaging is marketable. And when used to spread information and education, words are truly the most valuable asset we own – especially in PR. Without words, we’d have nothing to sell. Imagine not being able to communicate with clients or colleagues, or post on social media. Imagine a world without insightful content, without emails, without… speech?

Without words, the world as we know it would be no more.

As pointed out in 1839, the pen is “mighty”. Written words can mean the difference between understanding and confusion. Between success and failure. Between happiness and pain. And when it comes to negativity, trolling and the generation of “keyboard warriors” who use their words to inflict so much (non-physical, but very real) hurt, sometimes they can mean the difference between life and death.

I know I promised there wouldn’t be any more quotes. But given the recent tragedies in the news, this one is so poignant I couldn’t leave it out. So, I’ll apologise in advance, and leave you with this one to reflect on.

“Words start wars and end them, create love and choke it, bring us to laughter and joy and tears. Words cause men and women to willingly risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Our world, as we know it, revolves on the power of words.” – Roy Williams

When it comes to words, we all have choice. So choose to end wars. Choose love. Choose laughter. Choose to risk your fortune and your honour for the right reasons, and use your words to be a force for good in the world.

Words have so much power. It’s how we choose to use them that makes all the difference.

#BeKind

It’s official. The Apostrophe Protection Society, founded in 2001, has shut down; largely due to apathy if its founder, retired journalist John Richards, is to be believed. And yes, it is easy to believe because as a copywriter, it’s one of the things I notice; the misuse of the apostrophe (never for plurals!) or leaving it out completely.

Some, including a linguistic expert, think the death of the apostrophe is a good thing. It’s like our appendix. Who needs it anyway?

Of course, I beg to differ. As a writer, a language lover, and a bit of a pedant, the apostrophe has to stay.

Here’s why.

Apathy or laziness?

The linguistic expert mentioned above says too , misuse of the apostrophe is used to show up people with lower intelligence: “A good grasp of apostrophe use says more about your ability to remember inconsistent patterns than it does about your intelligence.”

I don’t think it’s an intelligence issue. I think it’s about laziness. With shortcuts for everything, are we simply too lazy to remember (or learn) what correct grammar and punctuation look like? And why should we bother when we have autocorrect functionality on our phones, built-in grammar checks on Word and upcoming generations that text in code?

We should bother because details matter and we (writers, at least) don’t want to get replaced by robots.

But that’s a topic for another blog.

Evolution or devolution?

Looking at language in general, it’s true that English has evolved and continues to change with use, influenced by other languages, slang and a new generation that could shorten this blog to 280 characters.

Just think about the new words we’ve added this year alone like “bigsie”, “e-bike” and “skunked”. There are also words we don’t use anymore and not ones like “shininicked” (benumbed and paralysed with fear) or “loitersacke” (a lazy, loitering fellow), but words like “whilst” or “thus” or “henceforth”.

We’ve also relaxed a lot when it comes to style itself, like starting sentences with conjunctions like “and” or “but”. I’ve done it in this blog.

But (see, I’ve done it again), where do we draw the line on what gets discarded? Could we ever get rid of other punctuation like the full stop? Then every single piece of written content would resemble a Facebook rant, just minus the emojis (another new word). The same can be said of the comma. This little mark is often overused or not used at all — and if we got rid of it (shudder) it would be a gamble each time we wrote something that the meaning would be properly conveyed. Just consider:

“Let’s eat Grandma.” vs “Let’s eat, Grandma.”

I’m going to leave that there.

Language is fluid. I accept that. But there should be some guidelines we still stick to, because it’s a slippery slope. First, we dismiss the apostrophe, then the comma, the em dash (my personal favourite) and then the fullstop.

& thn in 10yrs tm well all b tking lke ths if we rnt alrdy.

This week saw 203 new words, such as whatevs, simples and chillax, added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as part of its quarterly update. As a writer who also has a French degree, I love language and find the etymology and evolution of words fascinating. So, the updates to the dictionary always spark my interest – even if I don’t agree with all of them… 2015’s bants sticks in my mind!

The four updates to the dictionary each year demonstrate how pop-culture, technology, politics and a more multicultural society, among other things, impact the way we speak. For instance, the latest update features Star Wars terms (Jedi, lightsabre, Padawan and the Force), regional dialect and words borrowed from other languages. Above all, the new additions to the dictionary highlight the ever-evolving nature of the English language.

And, as much as new words and phrases are being thought up every year, others seem to have stood the test of time – after all, it’s thought 1,700 words and phrases in the English language were invented by Shakespeare.

Conversely, words can fall out of fashion. For example, how frequently do you hear people saying things like ‘whence’, ‘whilst’ or ‘oftentimes’? Similarly, some words can disappear altogether. Take scurryfunge, for example, which was once used to mean ‘a hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbour and the time they knock on the door’.

Over time, the meaning of words can also change, as reflected by the definitions of steaming and hanging being updated in line with their use to mean drunk and hungover respectively.

Here are some of my favourites from the latest OED update:

Arancini, n.: Balls of rice stuffed with a savoury filling, coated in breadcrumbs, and fried, typically served as an appetizer or snack.

Easy-breezy, adj.: Especially of clothing, style, etc. Informal, casual; relaxed, carefree.

Kapow, int.: Representing the sound of an explosion, a gunshot, a hard punch or blow, etc.

Manhattanhenge, n.: A phenomenon in which the sun rises or sets in alignment with the streets that run east to west on the street grid of Manhattan, New York City.

Nomophobia, n.: Anxiety about not having access to a mobile phone or mobile phone services.

Omnishambles, n.: Chiefly in political contexts: a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged or is characterised by a series of blunders and miscalculations. This phrase was coined by the political comedy The Thick of It in 2009.

While it’s unlikely I’ll be using words such as sumfin, fakeness or easy-breezy in my work any time soon, I will most certainly be snacking on arancini and checking out Manhattenhenge when I’m next in New York.