‘But’ Out, ‘And’ In
One PR Fix, or communication upgrade, that I learned at the beginning of my career, is to replace using the word "but" with "and" to soften unfavorable language. While this has come in handy in business, it's also been useful in my personal communication as well. Before I learned this, I never really considered how the terms "but," "however," or "yet" can actually be negative. When I stopped to think about it, I realized that they are mainly used in contrary to something and have a subtle way to bring down a conversation. Why? Because many times, "but" is used as an excuse or a crutch. Over and over people use "but" to take the accountability off of their shoulders. For example, "I did my homework, BUT I don't have it with me because my dog ate it." Or "I would have been on time, BUT I got stuck in traffic." Even though this is not the case for all uses of "but," the frequency of using a "but statement" as a justification for a mistake has dirtied the interpretation of the word.
29 June, 2015
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