Wordplay

Help people remember with acronyms

Create a mnemonic

First there was FUBAR: F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition. Now, thanks to the Urban Dictionary, we also have PHOBAR: PHOtoshopped Beyond All Recognition.… Read the full article

How to coin a new word

Create new terms by merging old ones

Tracy Ousdahl and Paul Pinney have traveled the globe. But sometimes, instead of venturing out to a cool destination, they use their time off to visit their families.… Read the full article

Why wordplay works in communications

We pay attention to and remember puns, alliteration

A hand shoots up in my Make Your Copy More Creative workshop.

“But,” the communicator says, “don’t you risk confusing people with wordplay?”… Read the full article

When to use adverbs and adjectives

‘Applewood-smoked bacon’ just tastes better

Turns out a Southwestern Tex-Mex salad by any other name would not taste as good.

Vivid menu descriptions — “applewood-smoked bacon,” “Maytag blue cheese” and “buttery plump pasta,” for instance — can increase restaurant sales up to 27 percent, according to research by Brian Wansink.… Read the full article

Paint word pictures

‘You’ll have your hand on your head with a knot under it’

My grandma and namesake, Annie B. Vrana, was an Oklahoma farm woman and one of the most colorful people I’ve known.… Read the full article

This list is made for twisting

Wordplay techniques to steal from ‘Kinky Boots’

“Ladies and gentlemen … and those who have yet to make up your minds.”

— Billy Porter as Lola in Harvey Fierstein’s ‘Kinky Boots’

Here’s a quick humor technique: Twist a list.… Read the full article

‘Spill, baby, spill’: Don’t let a good slogan go bad

Vet your tagline with RhymeZone.com

They might have seen it coming.

Nope, not BP of the Gulf Coast oil spill. But Sarah Palin, Michael Steele and other supporters of increased domestic oil drilling of their slogan “Drill, baby, drill.”… Read the full article