"Because they say so" and famous misattributed quotes.

One of the most annoying and lazy habits of some writers is to refer to the nebulous entity, “they”.

“They say travel broadens the mind, ...”  [1]
"Don't listen to what they say ..."

Nice sentiments, but who are 'they'?

It sounded right! Homonym horrors

I confess this is not the most original of posts, but the topic is one that continues to interest writers who want to improve their craft and avoid embarrassing mistakes - just like me.

We should all be familiar with the most cringeworthy like: they’re and there; to, too and two and then and than. Autocorrect features in word-processing programs are no help either and often make matters worse.

But these easily made errors remain common, though less obvious, and we continue to see them in uncorrected work on blogs or even in work submitted to editors. Are you guilty?

Pore or Pour

[source]

When one studies a document or map, one pores over it.

Be absorbed in reading or studying (something) [Oxford]

One Fell Swoop

[source]

Not a ‘foul swoop’, as is the most common misuse.

As in with one swoop of a weapon like an axe or sword.

Faint-hearted

[source]

To be timid or lacking courage.

Not ‘feint-hearted’, as one editor was quick to remind me.

Sailing unchartered waters

[source]

Er, no. Stuff that is not on a map (or chart) is uncharted. One ‘charters’ a ship or vessel.

Copywrite protection

[source]

Again, nuh. A copywriter writes copy. And this copy may or may not be copyrighted (or subject to intellectual property protection) 

A Stationery target

Unless you are aiming to shoot an envelope, then you mean ‘stationary’ - or standing still.

[source]

An allusive quarry

[source]

Again, an easy one to make. Here we should use ‘elusive’ - to avoid or elude. An allusion is an indirect reference, like a hint.

Australia’s capitol city

[source]

Nope. Canberra is our capital. A capitol is a building full of politicians, or more correctly, legislators.

You want to be a 'pal' with someone who has 'capital'.

How about these examples? Do you know one from the other?

• Principle or Principal
• Emigrate or Immigrate
• Elicit or Illicit
• Climactic or Climatic

Writers, isn’t it about time we kicked the bucket list?

Sometimes a cliche is thrashed to such a point it transcends even the definition of cliche. The term ‘Bucket List’ is one such overused phrase, beaten to a literary pulp.

Now that this term approaches its tenth birthday, I’m wondering whether those who use it with such gusto even recall its genesis? Clearly, the creative geniuses who conceived the Malaysia Airlines promotion in 2014 had lost track of the meaning behind it.

“To enter, customers will need to tell Malaysia Airlines which destinations are on their must-see bucket list after booking their flight” the competition tag-line read. Of course, with two massive tragedies to deal with, references to buckets was less than ideal. Fortunately there were a couple of million astute readers ready to remind them of the folly of their words.

As a refresher to those who may have been living in a cave this last decade, the term ‘Bucket List’ refers to a wishlist of things to do or see before one ‘kicks the bucket’, i.e., dies.

While it may have been in use prior, the smash hit 2007 comedy movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman propelled it into Cliche Hall of Fame. The two characters, from polar opposite lifestyles, end up in the cancer ward at a US hospital and, to make a long story short, embark on a rampage of indulgence in the short time they have left, visiting iconic locations around the world, among other things.

Hence, a ‘bucket list’ should contain items of lifetime significance and not frivolous doodads like a Kardashian handbag or lurid Nike runners.

Barack Obama, for example, diverted his presidential motorcade while in England in 2014 so he could see Stonehenge, triumphantly announcing to waiting reporters, “Knocked it off the bucket list right now!”

Rebecca Mead describes it thus in the venerable New Yorker magazine:

“This is the YOLO-ization of cultural experience, whereby the pursuit of fleeting novelty is granted greater value than a patient dedication to an enduring attention - an attention which might ultimately enlarge the self, and not just pad one’s experiential résumé.”

Surely President Obama would rather have had “enact gun laws” or “create peace in the Middle East” on any genuine POTUS ‘bucket list’.

No matter how it appears these days, the bucket list has gone the way of all good cliches and run its course, losing meaning and languishing in the swill of buzzwords and meaningless jargon. Writers, let's consign ‘bucket list’ to the linguistic landfill.