April 12, 2007: Issue 184
Make your main verbs as strong as they can be. Avoid constructions that reduce the most powerful verb in the sentence to an infinitive.
acceptable: With smart repurposing, she managed to slash the budget by half.
preferred: With smart repurposing, she slashed the budget by half.
acceptable: They decided to abandon their typical beige and opted to splash bold red around the room.
preferred: They abandoned their typical beige and splashed bold red around the room.
For once, we’re on The Donald’s side: Watch a very cranky Donald Trump fire a contestant from The Apprentice for putting the wrong phone number in a prototype brochure. (It happens at the end of the clip.) You can’t check a phone number too many times.
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