Devolution toward Simpler

“Bring” vs. “Carry”

Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Verbs, Versus

Just as I often hear “bring” when the speaker means “take” instead, I often hear speakers confuse “carry” with “bring”.

Problem:
The verbs “bring” and “carry” are not interchangeable.

Explanation:
One should use “carry” when one is telling the listener to transport something to a location other than where one currently resides.

One should use “bring” when one is telling the listener to transport something to a location where one currently resides.

I believe that the use of “bring” instead of “carry” supports my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis. The verb “bring” (with one syllable) is simpler to say than is “carry” (with two syllables).

Solution:
Use “bring” when the person making the request is at the destination.
Use “carry” when the person making the request is NOT at the destination.

“Missed Direct Calls”

Devolution toward Simpler

I saw this in a telephone call-routing presentation.

Problem:
This is an error on top of an error, and this phrase is not what the presenter intended to say.

Explanation:
The presentation in which I saw this phrase was about interactive voice-response (IVR) systems.

The presenter was talking about misdirected calls.

It has become a bad habit among IVR folks to refer to misdirected calls — calls that are directed to the inappropriate customer service representative — as “misdirect calls”.

I believe that this growing trend to use “misdirect calls” — with “misdirect” inappropriately used as an adjective — as the substitute for “misdirected calls” is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis.

It’s simpler to say “misdirect” (three syllables) than to say “misdirected” (four syllables, with extra care required to say the “ed” ending).

Unfortunately, whoever created the presentation heard “misdirect calls” as “missed direct calls”, so we got an error on top of an error. Whew!

Solution:
“Misdirected Calls”

“WOOD BASE HIGH END FURNITURE”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Hyphens, Nouns

I saw this in a television commercial.

Problem:
Hyphens and a comma are missing.

Explanation:
The noun “WOOD” and the noun “BASE” are used together as a modifier of the noun “FURNITURE”, so “WOOD” and “BASE” must be hyphenated together.

The adjective “HIGH” and the noun “END” are used together as a modifier of the noun “FURNITURE”, so “HIGH” and “END” must be hyphenated together.

We end up with two modifiers — “WOOD-BASE” and “HIGH-END” — of the noun “FURNITURE”, so we insert a comma between the two modifiers to get the solution.

It seems that the advertising copywriter fell prey to today’s prevalent copywriting style of avoiding hyphens and commas at all costs.

I believe that this style is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis. It’s simpler to leave out the hyphens and comma than to include them.

Solution:
“WOOD-BASE, HIGH-END FURNITURE”