Summary: Welcome back to the Beyond Talk blog! Read today's post to learn more about last week's mini-blog tweet of the word granular as an industry buzzword.

Do you follow me on Twitter (@KealahParkinson)? If so, you've been getting mini-blog posts on WOW Words of the Week—industry buzzword terms like last week's granular.

Granular (GRAN - yeh - LEHR) – Its basic definition is something grainy or seemingly consisting of grains, such as sugar or sand; but in business-speak, it means finely detailed. In other words, it's getting down to the nitty-gritty. Sample sentence: "The client was pleased that Sue's proposal was granularly focused on the service schedule of our project." Etymology: This word entered the English language in the late 1700s from the Latin granule, a diminutive of the Latin word granum for grain or seed. Related word: Granola—which, when used colloquially to mean nature-oriented and/or modern-day-hippie, is decidedly un-business-oriented!

© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2012

Kealah's Personal Update

You may have noticed that Beyond Talk looks a little different ... again. Here's a run-down of some of the changes that have been made to the blog recently:

- Speak your truth! Participate in the poll. You checked out the last poll--"What stops your from speaking your truth?"--and the tallied votes showed that fear is the number one emotion that holds you back. So, now I'm asking you, "How do you overcome your fear?" Don't be afraid to speak up and share! You can find the old poll--and all closed polls to come in the future--located at the very bottom of the blog site's left-hand column.

- Book me on GigSalad.com! Looking for a speaker or entertainer for your next meeting or event? The button added to the very top of this blog page takes you directly to my profile on that great clearinghouse for professional speakers, emcees, bands and other entertainers for your party, event, corporate meeting or--in my case--workshop. I'm available for panel discussions, lectures and various workshops, such as lunch-and-learn occasions. (Of course, you can always contact me directly via my website, but GigSalad.com gives you a great selection to choose from. Choose wisely!)

- Groooooow: I'm also on SelfGrowth.com, a fantastic resource for all things personal-growth-related. Click the banner link on the left-hand side of the page, just under my Twitter and Facebook links (and right above my blogroll list of all the awesome blogs I recommend for YOU)! Let's grow together.

Have a great weekend.


© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2010

WORD OF THE WEEK: Words of the Year (or Don't Admonish My Tweets)

Summary: Experts are releasing their lists of top words of the year—those most looked-up in online dictionaries, most searched on the internet, and most overused in society. ... Let's not admonish them for their findings 'til we've read their results!

Last year (also known as last week), Merriam-Webster.com released its list of most looked-up words. Top of the list of 10 was admonish. Why? According to the site's Editor-at-Large, Peter A. Sokolowski:

"Admonish shot to the top of the list three days after Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during a speech made by President Obama ... when the House announced plans to admonish Rep. Wilson .... While this particular story wasn't very important in the context of a year's worth of news," Sokolowski said, "it triggered enormous interest in this word."

To admonish (AD - MON - ish) another is to express warning or disapproval, especially in a gentle, earnest or solicitous manner (again, according to Merriam-Webster.com). This verb entered the English language sometime in the 14th century from the Latin admonere, meaning to warn. A good example sentence is, "After their business luncheon, her boss admonished her for contradicting their client over the amount of the waitstaff's tip."

Other sites chose their words-of-the-year picks—for both cheers and jeers: Discovery News selected Twitter as its most-searched word (according to Microsoft) back in November, before the year's end, while Lake Superior State University admonished popular culture with its annual "Banished Words" list. (Included for the entrance to 2010 were all things e-networking, like tweet and unfriend.)

Follow the links above for a real education in modern word usage in 2010! And if you want to truly show off, share with me just how many of these listed words you can put together in one sentence. I dare you ....

© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2010

WORD OF THE WEEK: But How Is It Artless?

Summary: The word artless has multiple meanings, some of which you can likely guess easily and some that may surprise you.

Here's a word that seems straight-forward, but has some subtle variations to its multiple meanings, depending on how it's used:

Artless (ART - les) is an adjective that can be just what it sounds—uncultured, or lacking in knowledge, skill, art—as in, "He's an artless buffoon, and I don't know what she ever saw in him." It can also be used to convey crudeness in action, like, "The opposing candidate's artless attempt to win votes did his campaign no favors." Or it can mean natural, free from artificiality: "Still, there's an artless grace to both of them that hasn't yet been tainted by the poseurs and politicians around them."

The word artless is also a synonym for innocent. In this case, it's also meant to convey freedom from artificiality, lacking in guile or craft, naturalness—such as, "The artless young woman wears her heart on her sleeve for all to see."

The English language adopted the word around 1590, and as with all multi-meaning words, its various usages evolved over time. It's important to study the sentence each time you see this word in print or hear it being spoken, so that you understand the meaning that's being related. If you get it confused, someone may just accuse you of being artless!

If you Twitter, use the word artless in your tweets today, along with my username (@KealahParkinson) and I'll send you free information on my soon-to-be-released e-course, Speak YOUR Truth, where you can learn to say what you mean to get what you want.

© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009

WORD OF THE WEEK: Ineluctable Vocabulary Aid

Summary: You can count on Beyond Talk to introduce a new word to build your vocabulary every Monday. But what else is ineluctable in your life?

One of the benefits of regularly reading this blog is the boost it gives your vocabulary. Each week, I feature a new word—complete with pronunciation help—that you may or may not know. The fact is, even if the weekly word isn't new to you, it's always a boon to have a little reinforcement to what you do know.

You might say it's ineluctably helpful.

But perhaps you might not. After all, you don't have to read this blog! But if you subscribe to it, follow it, are a fan of my Facebook page (see the new link box below), tweet me on Twitter, connect with me on LinkedIn or regularly check out my website, you haven't got much escape from the weekly vocab words. ... And maybe you're stalking me? Or likely you're really interested in and dedicated to improving your communication skills. (My lawyer and I sure hope so.)

What's most ineluctable in today's society, it seems, is social networking. In case you haven't already gleaned it from the word's usage, here is the definition of today's featured word:

Ineluctable (IN - ee - LUCK - ta - bil) - (adj.) unavoidable; not to be resisted or changed; inevitable. From the Latin ineluctabilis, meaning a combination of "to struggle clear of" and "to wrestle from" and "to dislocate," it entered the English language around 1623.

Some say that in American society, the only ineluctabilities are death and taxes. But many of us find so many other ineluctable instances in our lives. I know that blogging three times a week is pretty much a given for me. So, what's ineluctable about your day-to-day life? ... And if you could change it, would you?

© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009

WORD OF THE WEEK: Contest Tergiversation

Perhaps you were all a little distrait over the double meaning of tergiversation? Maybe you're just too loyal to even consider it?

At any rate, the contest ends today. So here, for those of you waiting impatiently to learn the answer (without looking it up on your own), is the secondary meaning of the former Word of the Week, tergiversation—preceded by the hint that threw you all for a loop:

"It's not uncommon for politicians to talk around a topic, making an art of tergiversation in answer to a question, especially on controversial subjects." Also (here comes the tricky part): "Senator Arlen Specter has been accused of selling out to the highest-voting bidder after his tergiversation of the Republican Party."

*drumroll ...*

Tergiversation: a desertion of a cause, position, party, faith. *cymbals crash!*

And this week's (contest-free) word, distrait, means "divided in attention, especially because of anxiety; inattentive." Visit MyDictionary.com (or, Twitter users, follow MyWOTDcom) for a free new word every day this week!

(c) KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009

TRULY SPEAKING: Dictionary 2.0

Have you heard the word? Rumor has it that the Information Age is dumbing down society: Text messages, Twitter tweets, and Facebook statuses are corrupting the pristine language we've known, loved, and used for so long. But is it true?

Last month, esteemed writers Patricia T. O'Conner and Stewart Kellerman released their new book, Origins of the Specious. It's about the "myths and misconceptions of the English language"—including the idea that grammatical rules cannot be broken. There's even an argument for ending a sentence with a preposition. ("What!?" screams the editor in me. "What else will they think of??" Oops.)

BTW, welcome to your bonus word for this week: specious, meaning "superficially plausible, but actually wrong; misleading in appearance or misleadingly attractive." And if you think my use of "BTW" as an abbreviation for "by the way" is a fine example of devolution, (bonus word #2: the opposite of Darwin's evolve), remember that ASAP was once the more time-consuming "as soon as possible."

Kellerman and O'Conner say that, like anything else on Planet Earth, language changes and grows. What gains popularity in usage defines the rules of definition. Talk about open sourcing!

(c) KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009

WEEKLY UPDATE: Tweet me, friends! (or 3 Tips to Better Communication via Social Networking)

My friend Roger wants a place where he can write freely—a place where he can voice his thoughts uncensored, just like on his Facebook page (where only a select handful of us have made the “friend” cut to share in the dialogue). If blogging or blog commenting doesn’t hold enough of a two-way appeal for you, consider the more informal options of social networking sites.

Tweeting on Twitter and leaving messages on your Facebook friends’ walls is just one way to effectively practice and improve the way you write and speak. Here’s how:

1. Re-Read Your Posts. Pay attention to the updates & replies that you post. Do friends & followers often respond with corrections to your grammar or punctuation? Do you notice mistakes in these areas? Make a personal list of the areas you need to improve. (Hint: If you write conversationally, you’ll have the same mistakes in print as you do speaking in person!)

2. Play with Your Replies. Change your status updates & your replies—especially on friendly Facebook—by rewording what you’ve already written. Re-Tweet as needed: People will comment on your multi-posts, providing you with valuable feedback that informs the way you write & speak.

3. Find Me! Follow me on Twitter (as KealahParkinson—I just joined today!) & become my fan on Facebook (as Kealah Parkinson-KiKi Productions). I’ll continue to offer tweet tips & friendly info. that’s customized to your needs if you share in the dialogue now.


(c) KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009