“Dear Sir or Madam”—Learn When to Use It and Some Alternatives

How do you know when to use Dear Sir or Madam or something else? When writing a business letter or email, it can be a real challenge to get the salutation right—especially for someone you don’t know or an organization you’ve never worked with. In such situations, you should err on the side of formality, but even then there are good reasons to avoid Dear Sir or Madam.

How to Write Powerful Bullet Points

Any writer who’s spent time in the trenches publishing articles online knows it’s hard to keep a reader’s attention. In fact, according to Tony Haile’s 2014 article on Time.com, 55 percent of readers will spend fifteen seconds or less actively on a page reading the article that took you many times longer to write and carefully proofread. Like it or not, our online culture, which blasts us with a never-ending stream of content 24/7, has made us skimmers rather than deep readers.

Why Grammar Matters in Your Content Marketing

If you’re trying to market your brand or sell a product, a grammatical mistake or typo can hold you back from success. Find out how it can hinder you (with funny pictures for proof), why it matters, and what you can do to ensure clean copy.

What do typos do to your messaging?

A few spelling and grammatical errors won’t necessarily prevent people from buying your product.

Catalog vs. Catalogue

• Catalogue and catalog are both acceptable spellings.
• Catalog is most popular in American English.
• Catalogue is the most common form in other parts of the world.

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Some stores compile lists of products you can buy from them. These lists (often in book form) are sometimes accompanied by descriptions and photos of the products. You may see this book described as either a catalog or a catalogue.

How to Use “Complement”

Here’s a tip: A complement is related to completion, while a compliment relates to flattering words or acts.

Everybody loves a compliment. Or is it a complement they love? If there is a published list of commonly confused words, complement and compliment are almost certain to appear. However, these two terms don’t have to be on your personal list of befuddling vocabulary!

Meet the Dictionary’s New Words

From Merriam-Webster’s Peter Sokolowski, here’s the full list of words

(we added a few notations about why certain words were added, via the m-w.com press release):

aha moment n (1939) : a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension [Oprah Winfrey’s signature phrase]

brain cramp n (1982) : an instance of temporary mental confusion resulting in an error or lapse of judgment