Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Future job security, part II.



That is some expensive freshness. Why? Well, it needs to be insured, as in requiring an insurance policy. What the Tony's pizza people meant to do is "ensure freshness." It's a nitpicky differentiation, one that only arose relatively recently in linguistic history, but it's completely legitimate, insisted upon by the AP Stylebook and dictionary.com, among others. Because it involves a subtle shift in meaning, I would wholeheartedly uphold the rule. Whenever language becomes more nuanced, we are able to express ourselves just a little more clearly.

2 comments:

Grant said...

Thus you are an agent for clearer communication. Doing battle against the laziness of making the reader decide the correct meaning through context.

Kaitlin said...

Exactly! I'm glad you understand me so well...