Eureka!: Discover and Enjoy the Hidden Power of the English Language - Softcover

Royce, Walker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1600379443 ISBN 13: 9781600379444

Verlag: Morgan James Publishing, 2011

Inhaltsangabe

English has more than a quarter-million words. We have many, many options for word selections, sentence structures and paragraph styles. So much opportunity to be creative. So many alternatives to fine-tune your thoughts. So many opportunities to go astray.
English is a wonderfully diverse language. If you ask fifty different people to describe an object, an event, or an idea, you will get fifty different perspectives, each articulated with distinct words and style. There are no absolutes -- no best writer, best speaker, best style -- and no best words. However, there are patterns and principles of English usage that are generally persuasive, and misusage patterns that are generally ineffective.
Diversity of thought and communications are critical to teamwork, to achievement in the workplace, to teaching, learning, and parenting, and to growing our networks of friends and family. The perspective from which you attack a problem, tell a story, listen to someone else’s position, or write a message is important to understanding the solution, the moral, or the point. If you are capable of looking, reasoning, and hearing different perspectives, you can be far more effective at communicating and achieving progress in most endeavors.
"Eureka!" illuminates the communications power, the amusement, and the oddities to be found in the English language. Instead of highlighting all the mechanics and hairball rules of English, Walker Royce leads you through an educational and entertaining workout of your English knowledge and skills. Provocative insights into high stakes communications like speaking, coaching, selling, interviewing and romance are mixed with English language trivia, humorous anecdotes, and unique puzzles. This unique perspective will transform you into a better listener, writer, speaker and teammate, and it will stimulate some deeper self-observation -- a catalyst for improving your own communications proficiency.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Walker Royce is an internationally renowned IBM executive and author of two books on software management. For more than 30 years, he has coached business leaders and technical practitioners in high-stakes innovations. He knows what it takes to communicate effectively, and he has a rare knack for observing communications styles and sharing the wonders of English with others. Deep down inside he is a language nut.

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eureka!

Discover And Enjoy The Hidden Power Of The English Language

By Walker Royce

Morgan James Publishing

Copyright © 2011 Walker Royce
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-60037-944-4

Contents

Preface, 
Introduction, 
1. The ABCs of English, 
Parts of Speech, 
Punctuation, 
Words, 
Sentences, 
Paragraphs, 
Composition and Style, 
2. The Beauty of the Beast, 
Words Within Words and Words Among Words, 
Synonyms, 
Antonyms, 
Homonyms, Homophones, and Heteronyms, 
Anagrams, 
Mnemonics, 
Jargon, 
Acronyms, 
Palindromes, 
Oxymorons, 
Puns and Malapropisms, 
3. Abuse, Misuse, and Obtuse Use of English, 
Verbosity, 
Impotent Adverbs, 
Punctuation Abuse, 
Misusing or Misspelling Words, 
Abusing Me, Myself, and I, 
Using Words that are Not Words, 
Mispronouncing Words, 
The Department of Redundancy Department, 
Relative Absolutes, 
Double Negatives, 
4. Synchronize With Your Audience, 
Adjust to Your Context, 
Assertiveness and Responsiveness, 
Diversity and Versatility, 
One-on-One Communications, 
Trusted Advisors, 
5. Presentations: Accuracy and Precision, 
Avoid Information Overload, 
Prevent Oral Tedium, 
6. Selling an Idea, 
Value-Based Selling, 
Selling Is Not About Winning, 
A Self-Assessment, 
7. Interviews, 
Resumes, 
Some Ideas for Interviewers, 
Some Ideas for Interviewees, 
8. Is English a Romance Language?, 
A Tale of Two Poems, 
Conclusions, 
My 10 Favorite Words, 
My 10 Un-Favorite Words, 
Appendix A. A Team Dynamics Workshop, 
Preparation, 
Workshop Agenda, Material, and Results, 
Team Principles, 
Appendix B. A Working-Out-Values Camp, 
Goals, 
Motivation, 
Course Syllabus, 
Prerequisites, 
Camp Infrastructure, 
Appendix C. Exercising Observation Skills, 
Eureka Puzzles, 
Sequence Puzzles, 
Relative-Antonym-Synonym-Homophone (RASH) Puzzles, 
Games and Other Mental Exercises, 
Puzzle Hints, 
Bibliography, 

CHAPTER 1

The ABCs of English

As the English language has evolved over the past few hundred years, we have created some interesting elements. No one designed the language we use today; its architecture was created more or less after the fact. We can describe English construction pretty accurately and fairly concisely. But if we try to represent it completely and precisely, the result is very, very messy. Most of us learned English by trying to understand all the messy parts. It was no fun.

Many people would think it ridiculous even to attempt to introduce the English language in a few short pages. I disagree. It is a challenging exercise in communications. Start with a complex concept that takes a lifetime to master and boil it down into its basic elements. This thinking has led to most of the world's scientific breakthroughs, and it is one of the skills possessed by good coaches and teachers. Simplify. This section provides my solution to this challenge. For an excellent and concise treatment of English, read Write Right! A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style, by Jan Venolia.

PARTS OF SPEECH

The basics of English can be captured in just nine classes of words traditionally called parts of speech. Here they are in (my) priority order:

1. verb expresses an action, occurrence, existence
2. adjective modifies a noun
3. noun names a person, animal, thing, place, idea, quality, act
4. interjection exclaims
5. adverb modifies a verb, adjective, adverb
6. preposition relates one noun to another
7. pronoun stands in for a noun
8. conjunction connects words
9. article precedes a noun

Why this priority? The order reflects my opinion as to which words count the most when writing or speaking. And some words do count more than others. Actions speak louder than the other parts of speech; consequently, verbs are at the top of the list. Many people would place nouns at the top, but most nouns are usually obvious, and they become interesting only when they are specialized (through adjectives) or when they do something (through verbs). Interjections are one of the more underused parts of speech.

The introduction of emoticons (such as smiley faces) in online communications has increased the popularity of communicating with interjections. Emoticons are simply modern-day substitutes for interjections. I have never used a smiley face, preferring the challenge of building "tone" into my style with interjections and careful word choices.

Prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, and articles are lower priority because they are mostly mundane necessities. Adverbs, on the other hand, are intentionally low on the list. I think adverbs are the most abused part of speech in today's everyday language. They clutter prose with redundancy, exaggeration, and unnecessary complexity. Learn what adverbs are best used for so that you can be more selective about their use.

PUNCTUATION

Be wary when something is defined by expressing what it is not. This is usually a sign that the definer cannot articulate the meaning clearly or doesn't understand the subject clearly. Nevertheless, this is the best way to define punctuation: all the stuff that is not letters or numbers. The primary elements of punctuation are shown in Table 1-.

Punctuation marks are symbols that serve two primary purposes. First, they help clarify the syntax (structure) and semantics (meaning) of the words that are strung into sentences, paragraphs, and pages. Second, they help the reader understand the pauses and tones intended by the author.

The role of punctuation is best described in Lynne Truss's classic work, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. How important is punctuation? It is much more important than it appears on the surface. Here are some simple demonstrations.

Punctuate the following sequence of words to form a complete sentence.

A woman without her man is nothing

If you are male, you probably punctuated this sentence by putting a period at the end.

A woman without her man is nothing.

If you are female, you may have punctuated this sentence differently.

A woman: Without her, man is nothing.

A change in punctuation turns the meaning of the sentence upside down. Here is another example.

Don't stop. This means keep going.

Don't! Stop! This means the opposite of "Don't stop."

Here is a longer paragraph. This is a little more tortured, but it is still easy to see the power of punctuation. The words are exactly the same in both paragraphs; only the punctuation changes the entire meaning.

Dear Jack,

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy — will you let me be yours?

Jill

Dear Jack,

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn! For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours, Jill

These examples illustrate the primary...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Morgan James Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2011
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1600379443
• ISBN 13: 9781600379444
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 284
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland