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Solving your writing problems since 1998! |
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~ The Write Way ~ Friday 18 February 2000 Consumer Warnings
Greetings, This week, something a little different - how you use this really depends on where your interests lie. If you're just a 'consumer', then regard what follows as a bit of a warning; if you're on the other end of the food chain, consider it a lesson ;) I've mentioned this topic before, but I think it's interesting enough (and important enough) to be worth another look - it's the use of emotive language in writing. Studies commissioned by major companies have identified four main reasons behind the success of emotional appeals over straight rational appeals when used in advertising (and this is one of the most common uses of emotive language): 1. We're more likely to notice words with an emotional appeal. Look at these examples: * "Things go better with Coke" * "The taste that satisfies" * "Another Kodak moment " These tell us nothing about the product, but each packs a strong emotional appeal, so we stop and we look, instead of skimming over the ad. 2. We're more likely to remember ads with emotional appeals - for the same reason that we remember the words of pop songs, but not theorems. We humans are emotional little critters, we use our emotions first, and then fall back on our intellect! 3. We're more likely to become involved with a product when an emotional appeal is made. Let's face it, there's no real, rational reason to form an attachment to a mixture of chemicals, smeared under the arms and designed to prevent the sweat glands from functioning, is there? But we all remember that, 'You can't get by without your Mum." ('Mum' is a brand of deodorant.) 4. We're more likely to believe that a product will give us those intangible benefits the advertisers want us to believe in, when emotional appeals are made. We want - desperately - to believe that we will be more successful, popular, healthy, loved, important etc. If we can achieve all this just by purchasing a particular brand of toothpaste, margarine or motor car, then WOW - I'm convinced, how about you? The next time you're about to 'flash the plastic' to buy that new after-shave (you know the one, it makes grown women go weak at the knees and do silly things), one of those toilet cleaners that leaves you looking so ecstatic you'd think you'd just found the answer to the meaning of life, or that nifty mobile phone that guarantees you'll be the life of every party - pause for a moment and listen to that little voice whispering, "remember what you read in this week's issue of TheWrite Way ... put it away ... " ~ * ~ The Write Way is happy to be a member of
the ESL Newsletter Network. This is a ~ * ~ Nick thought we might be interested in these twenty things you DON'T want to hear when you're lying on the slab in the operating room:
Aren't they a hoot? Probably not quite as funny if you're just about to go into hospital for an op yourself ...
And Colin sent in another interesting quote from
the world of cricket commentators: This week's quiz: Choose the word closest in meaning to the word in capitals: 1. BRUMAL weather - balmy, winter-like, damp, penetrating, depressing 2. A FERINE cry - blood-curdling, cat-like, wild, mourning, piercing 3. The story was GERMANE - foreign, unknown, believable, fictitious, relevant 4. He was LAMPOONED - satirised, praised, surrounded, caught, struck 5. He was warned against MENDICANTS - liars, robbers, quack doctors, beggars, socialists 6. A NOCENT dose - disagreeable, healing, harmful, useless, narcotic 7. A RISIBLE mistake - pardonable, laughable, inexcusable, costly, fatal 8. His wife was a TERMAGANT - quarrelsome woman, child-beater, invalid, miserly wretch, only child 9. A SANGUINARY contest - uneven, bloody, decisive, doubtful, notable 10.The HIATUS was of short duration - fever, friendship, insurrection, visit, interval There - that should give you a few good
words to toss into the conversation at the bus stop! Give one word for the following (yes, I know they're all a bit gruesome ...): 1. Killing plants: HERBICIDE 2. Killing an entire race: GENOCIDE 3. Killing one's brother: FRATRICIDE 4. Killing one's sister: SORORICIDE 5. Happening after one's death: POSTHUMOUS 6. Deliberate killing of a person: HOMICIDE (or murder) 7. Accidental killing of a person: MANSLAUGHTER 8. Killing a public figure: ASSASSINATE 9. Killing one's mother: MATRICIDE 10.Killing one's father: PATRICIDE Tautology of the week: For the benefit of those who've just joined this happy band, let me recapitulate back to what happened previously - every week we have some examples of expressions called tautologies (repeating the same thing twice ... in a row). As far as the future is concerned with this segment, it depends a lot on what happens in the days and weeks ahead. Without further ado, we'll press on and present this week's example: First art critic: "This painting has a certain 'je ne sais quoi.' " Second critic: "Oh, I dunno ..." And a Latin phrase that may be just what you're looking for if you have a bad back: Paululum sursum et dextrorsum. Aahhh. (A little more up and to the right. Aahhh.) Regards, Jennifer To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to WritingTips-unsubscribe@onelist.com or go to the ONElist web site, at www.onelist.com, and select the User Centre link from the menu bar on the left. This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode.
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