3 Apps to Save You Time on Work Chat

Do you often find yourself scrambling to get everything done? The good news is that taking a few short seconds to install an app can save you hours. If you use Slack to communicate at work, learn how to make this collaboration tool work most effectively.

Apps for Slack

Reacji Channeler

Imagine that you want to send the same message to various people on a regular basis. In the past, you might have tediously copied the message from one channel to another. Now, you can use one command to choose an emoji and designate it to a specific channel. Anytime someone uses that emoji in a public channel, the message will instantly be shared on the channel you chose. For example, you can tell your team to share new insights in the Ideas channel by using the lightbulb emoji in any channel they are using. Or, you can instantly send kudos to an Employee Appreciation channel for deserving team members by adding the thumbs up emoji to a congratulatory comment. Not only do you save time switching back and forth, but also you can rest easy that all the right people will see all the important messages.

MailClerk

One of the biggest time wasters is switching between programs and applications. Enter MailClerk, described as “the email bot.” A bot is a software application designed to perform a task quickly. MailClerk allows you to form an email group of people who don’t use Slack. Without leaving Slack, you can receive and reply to emails from your external email account. What’s the benefit? Consider this scenario: With MailClerk, you can set up a team inbox for your Customer Support employees. Not only can they exchange emails from clients needing help, but they can also receive alerts, notifications, and newsletters in one convenient channel! No more minimizing screens and logging into separate email accounts for those team members. Instead, they can jump right into helping the client. It’s like coordinating all the features of a help desk within Slack. Think about your company. Would this app enhance its ability to serve your clients promptly and efficiently?

Screenhero

Do you sometimes struggle to get your colleagues to share your vision? Screenhero can make things easier than ever to illustrate your ideas. With this add-on, you can simultaneously share your screen with multiple members of your team. While you do so, you can use the voice chat feature to communicate, and everyone can use their mouse cursors to manipulate items on the screen. How does it work? Simply set up a Screenhero account for yourself and each member of your team. Then, in Slack, type /hero@username for each workmate you would like to invite to view your project. Which project? You can write code with your partner in Tokyo, design marketing with a specialist in Dubai, and get feedback from your best friend in the office next door! You are limited only by your own imagination.

Even if you have a lot of messages to send at work, there’s no reason to panic. By choosing the right apps, you can customize Slack to meet your communication needs. Screenhero, MailClerk, and Reacji Channeler are just a few of the apps that are available to Slack users. Why not visit Slack’s app directory to peruse what they have to offer? Besides apps to streamline communication, there are more than fifteen other categories of extensions, such as office management, customer support, and even travel, social, and fun. Just imagine how much more your company can accomplish with the time you will save!

6 Grammatically Questionable Epitaphs

Gravestones are meant to live on long after the person they represent has passed. It’s important to make sure they’re both well-deserved celebrations of life and completely accurate, since correcting these stones can be an arduous and expensive process. In honor of “Plan Your Epitaph Day,” which took place yesterday, here are six famous examples of epitaphs with grave spelling or grammatical errors.

William Gaddis, Writer

For a celebrated author, grammatical or spelling mistakes can be the kiss of death. That’s why it’s both perplexing and unfortunate that the gravestone of renowned author William Gaddis, two-time winner of the National Book Award, includes a spelling error. Gaddis’ epitaph includes not only his birth and death dates, but also an excerpt from his first published novel, The Recognitions. Unfortunately, the engraver misspelled the novel’s title as The Recongnitions. Many suspect that the author’s family members may have overlooked the mistake in this familiar title.

Ed Koch, Politician

Like many men who want to retain control over their legacy, Politician Ed Koch designed his own gravestone. The only pieces of information that the one-time mayor of New York City left out of the final design were the dates. While the finished product included a correct death date, the engraver transposed the numbers within Koch’s birth date. Instead of December 12, 1924, his epitaph reads 1942, shaving about 20 years off his life.

Zora Neale Hurston, Writer

Though she is a beloved writer today, Zora Neale Hurston was originally buried in an unmarked grave. When this misfortune was discovered, and her resting place was moved to a more prestigious burial ground, the engraver unceremoniously misspelled her middle name. Admirer and fellow writer, Alice Walker, arranged for the tombstone to be corrected to read “Neale” instead of “Neil.”

Isaac Bashevis Singer, Writer 

When celebrated writer Isaac Bashevis Singer died, his wife included the title “Noble laureate” in his epitaph. While Singer may have been noble, he actually won the 1978 Nobel Prize for literature. When family members brought the error to his wife’s attention, she requested that the epitaph remain unchanged. It wasn’t until many months later that a new gravestone corrected both Singer’s title and his misspelled middle name.

Stephen Hemlin, Family Man

While the blame for grammatical epitaph errors often lies with grieving and distracted family members, some are clearly the fault of the engraver. The family of British family man Stephen Hemlin designed a gravestone with a customized epitaph, only to find that the engraver inserted both a grammatical error and additional language. Instead of the family’s desired and correct phrase, “too dearly loved,” the epitaph unfortunately read as the cringe-worthy phrase, “to dearly loved to be forgotten.”

Elvis Presley, Crooner 

Fascination and intrigue perpetually surround Elvis Presley’s life and legacy, and his gravestone is no exception. While there’s no argument about the spelling of the singer’s first and last names, his middle name has a history of confusion and botched official documents. Presley’s parents intended for his middle name to be spelled “Aron,” which is how his name appears on his birth certificate.

Later in life, Presley attempted to change the official spelling to the more familiar “Aaron,” only to find that poorly handled documents already listed his name that way. When he passed away, Presley’s father made sure that the name was spelled the way his son intended: “Aaron.” Though this story continues to baffle diehard Elvis fans, rest assured that this apparent spelling mistake is actually correct.

Despite unhappy mistakes, these stories can teach us an important lesson. Even when you’re distraught at the loss of a loved one, be sure to edit thoroughly before finalizing an epitaph. Have you seen any poignant or ironic gravestone errors?

7 Star Wars Leadership Lessons

May the Fourth be with you!

Today may be a day dedicated to puns, fandom, and a galaxy far, far away, but it probably doesn’t mean you’ve suddenly learned a Jedi mind trick to keep your manager from asking for that project, presentation, or report. If you’re like me, you’re trapped at work, wishing you could be cosplaying The Force Awakens with your family or baking an R2-D2 cake.

Unfortunately, Star Wars Day has yet to be recognized as a national holiday. In better news, both the Dark Side and the Light Side have a lot to teach marketers about life, love, and the pursuit of the target demographic. Let’s see what the Jedi (and the Sith) have to say about marketing leadership.

Kylo Ren Is the Ultimate Counterexample of Disaster Response

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What do you do when the rebel scum hits the fan? Let’s use Kylo Ren as a counterexample for marketing leadership: he’s impulsive, hot-tempered, and incapable of inspiring his team.

So whether your social team makes an epic blunder, or a key executive spouts politically incorrect things in an interview, take a deep breath. Your next move will define who you are as a leader. Don’t repeat Kylo’s mistake by responding without thinking. You can make a disaster recovery plan, check for vulnerabilities, and apologize afterward, but the most important PR response will always be internal, so take care with how you handle crises with your team. Others will look to you as a leader for the appropriate mode and tone of response, so set that tone from the moment you hear about your organization’s blunder. Unlike Kylo, you can’t just slash the controls and shut everything down.

Balanced, Yoda Is

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Yoda may be an obvious choice when talking about any sort of leadership, since he has dispatched his fair share of sage leadership advice. But instead of focusing on “there is no try,” what if we looked at Yoda as a whole? Overall, this Jedi master emphasizes the psychological aspects of the Force, and marketers could stand to learn a few things. In our constant fight for eyes and ears, we sometimes forget what our target customer needs.

Does your customer really want another viral video, or are they trying to figure out how your product works? Do they need another tweet about National Pancake Day, or would they prefer a help article that answers their common questions? I believe Yoda would say, “Clear your mind, and ask them, you should.”

Admiral Ackbar Is Not a Trap(ped Leader)

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We all know this meme-worthy line, but do you know the context in which it’s said? Admiral Ackbar is managing multiple moving parts of one initiative, and he’s strapped for resources, manpower, and the skill to bring about the results his team needs (sound familiar?). Trying to balance brute force with agility and speed, he discovers that his chances of success have been slashed by factors outside his control. When he utters this now-famous line, he’s expressing the shock we all feel when things don’t pan out. But does he throw in the towel, even though he has few resources and he’s facing impossible goals? No! Ackbar pulls his team back to regroup, concentrating their energy on achievable KPIs. Once the shields are down and the time is right, they strike–ultimately winning the war.

With decreasing budgets and increasing expectations, digital marketing can sometimes feel like a losing battle. When leading a team into a difficult, resource-strapped situation, it may be time for us all to take a lesson from Ackbar. We need to identify the areas of potentially sky-high ROI, without wasting our team’s time and energy on losing battles in the interim. Although it may occasionally seem like a trap, with expert guidance and focus on the right metrics, our teams can (and will) win.

Emperor Palpatine Has No Vision

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Emperor Palpatine is ego personified for all the galaxy to see, and he’s also a great example of the overconfidence that has led to some pretty terrible marketing campaigns. Think of New Coke or the creepy Burger King mascot. You could also harken back to a number of poorly planned corporate social media blunders. When ideas like these fail so gloriously, occasionally I ask myself, “How could this have happened?” The answer: a Palpatine perspective on idea generation.

There’s a common phrase in journalism (and other highly edited writing) that you have to “kill your babies.” This infanticidal euphemism simply means that sometimes you have a great line of copy, idea, or wide shot that simply doesn’t fit in the larger piece and must be cut. Some marketers could stand to learn from this, lest our egos about having the best idea in the room become more important than the ideas themselves. It’s often prudent to take a step back; show someone else your killer campaign, press stunt, or even blog idea; and allow them to give brutal, honest feedback. After all, we don’t want our work compared to Empire.

Leia Has a High IQ–and a Great EQ

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Leia’s famously improvised line is key to the love story of Star Wars. But it also shows that she has a significant amount of emotional intelligence (EQ), since she recognizes love in a hard-to-read paramour. Although Leia clearly has a very high IQ, her EQ helps the character-driven story to progress, and it’s something we could all improve in our customers’ experiences. Knowing what your customers want is the first step to creating a great experience, but really empathizing with their pain points is the next step in that journey. Marketers are now tasked with the entire customer experience, so we should focus on understanding the emotions our customers feel when they have a negative interaction with our brand. Do your customers love you? Do you know?

Can You Correct These 16 Basic Grammar Mistakes?

Limericks: The Lowest Form of Poetry?

There is a well-known line, often attributed to Samuel Johnson, but preceded and followed by myriad others, that the pun is the lowest form of humor. If so, the limerick, a form of verse that depends on clever assonance and double entendre, is certainly the lowest form of poetry. In this post, we will shine a spotlight on the limerick, and see if the cockroaches scurry.

To the best of anyone’s knowledge, the limerick originated in England sometime before the fifteenth century. Early in the life of this form of poetry, limericks were created primarily for children.

Here’s an oldie, but goodie:

Hickory Dickory Dock A mouse ran up the clock The clock struck one And down he run Hickory Dickory Dock

Limericks began to gain widespread popularity in the mid-to-late eighteen-hundreds with the publication of Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense in 1845 and 1872. Lear’s verses centered on nonsensical themes, and he violated every law in the “poetic rulebook” by using a word to “rhyme” with itself and occasionally destroying the anapestic foot.

For this reader, seven hundred years of poetic tradition has trained my ears to flinch when I hear someone waste words within a rigid form. With the vantage of history, we moderns can rise up in our highfalutin’ indignation at offenses like this one:

There was an old person whose habits

Induced him to feed upon rabits When he’d eaten eighteen he turned perfectly green Upon which he relinquished those habits

Here, Lear rhymed “habits” with “habits,” and actually dropped the doubled “b” in “rabits.” Ouch.

Dictionary.com gives the origin of the term “limerick” as a reference in a popular drinking song, in which the refrain, “Will you come up to Limerick?” follows an extemporized verse. You can imagine the verses of the poem growing increasingly ribald as the beer flowed freely. In fact, given its tame domestic origins, the limerick has gained a unique reputation for bawdy subject matter and salty language.

The science-fiction icon, Isaac Asimov, along with John Ciardi, penned one of the seminal works in the study of the limerick. He captured the essence of the limerick with nuggets like these:

39. Fit for a Marathon

To the ancient Greek writer Herodotus,

Said a pretty young thing, “My, how hard it is!”

Said he, “Do you fear

I will hurt you, my dear?”

And she said, “Are you crazy? Thank God it is!”

Asimov and Ciardi do not source each of the limericks included their book. It is safe to say that many of these little gems had been passed down orally for generations until someone inscribed them for safekeeping. A more contemporary limerick demonstrates how the form is used in a more modern context:

126. Comic Strip

A well-known reporter, Clark Kent

Had a simpering, mild-mannered bent.

But he grabbed Lois Lane,

And he made it quite plain

What his cognomen Superman meant.

Poetic forms closely connected with the limerick can be found as early as fourteenth century England — quite a bit before the town of Limerick staked its claim. And while our language has evolved over the centuries, the English language, with its plethora of conjunctions and articles, provides humorists with a host of tools to fit the rhythm of the form.

Anyone can write a limerick. All you have to do is read some of the examples here, which will refresh your ear to the meter, and then give yourself a character (first line) and a situation (second line). Find a surprise ending, and away you go!

e.g. There once was a (person) from (place),

Who (action) to (something) his face,

When (something) (occurred),

(Inserting a word),

To (person) comes certain disgrace.

In honor of Limerick Day today, surprise us! Are you game? What is your favorite limerick – we’re waiting to smirk, chuckle, or ROFL at your responses.

Grammar Skills Test: Starter

Do You Play Word Games?

Knowledge is Power: Using Idioms To Give Power To Your Writing

Some writers use idioms to “add color” to their writing, while others are adamant about keeping their text as simple as possible. While idioms can certainly clutter your work with unnecessary detail, they may also introduce powerful imagery into your text. Since “knowledge is power,” let’s take a look at the best way to accomplish this.

First, what is an idiom? An idiom is an expression with a figurative meaning that differs from the literal meaning. We hear idioms every day – both in conversation and in the media. Used correctly, idioms can amplify messages in a way that draws readers in and helps to awaken their senses. But, how?

Idioms help us “think outside the box”

Incorporating idioms into your writing is an effective way to make your work more creative. This is because an idiom can be used as an artistic expression. For example, if you’re working on an article related to financial planning you could say: “You should save your money.” Or, you could use an idiom such as “A penny saved is a penny earned.” The idiom livens up the text and prompts readers to think beyond the facts, and about saving money in a different way. By not spending money, you’re really saving money. (Go figure!)

Another example of a creative idiom that helps to expand our frame of reference is to “bite off more than you can chew.” When using this phrase in a sentence, you are essentially telling someone that perhaps they’ve taken on a bigger task than they can handle; however, the idiom gives the sentence more charm – while also providing a dynamic visual. It conveys your message well and makes it more interesting for your readers.

Idioms help us find our “sense of humor”

Idioms can also add humor to your writing in places where you may otherwise seem brash. For example, rather than writing about a character who is not smart – or at least not thinking straight – you could say “the lights are on, but nobody’s home” or he’s “not playing with a full deck.” These idioms tend to be softer and somewhat less insulting.

Similarly, “when pigs fly” is a more dynamic way to say that something is highly unlikely to occur. And rather than say that someone is not very good at something, you could say, “Don’t give up your day job.”

Idioms “dress [our writing] to impress”

There are quite a few idioms that can take dull writing and make it more impressive, which used in the right context will serve writers well. For example, using “add insult to injury” sounds just a bit more impressive than telling someone that they are making a situation worse by their mockery. Instead of telling someone that they have no manners, you can say they have “not a spark of decency.”Are you trying to convey that you agree with someone? Perhaps you could say that you “see eye to eye.” Does this happen very rarely? Maybe it happens “once in a blue moon?”

When you’re writing, keep a list of idioms handy so you can draw from that list and incorporate these sayings into your writing where appropriate. Be careful not to “go overboard”. Too many idioms can be a distraction. Also, be sure that you know the correct meaning of the idiom before you use it in your writing. Not using it in the right context can confuse readers and turn some of them off to your work.

Trust me, it is easier than you think to incorporate idioms into your writing. Once you get familiar with a list of common idioms, you’ll discover that you already know many of them – and getting them on paper will be “a piece of cake”.

You’ll Never Guess the Origins of These 3 Bizarrely Spelled English Words

English is linguistically categorized as a West Germanic language. Though it is now the most widely spoken language in the world, English actually got a pretty small start.

In the fifth century, many related Germanic dialects fused together, collectively becoming what is now known as Old English. These dialects were brought to the eastern coast of England by Germanic settlers and eventually gained a stronghold in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England in what is now southeast Scotland.

Old English eventually evolved into Middle English as a result of invasion and interaction. Beginning in the eleventh century, English was increasingly influenced by the Romance languages, so-named because they descended from Latin, the language of the Romans.

Specifically, the Norman Conquest of England in the eleventh century facilitated a heavy borrowing from Norman French. As a result, vocabulary and spelling conventions began to evolve to more closely resemble those of a Latin-derived Romance language, even though English itself is not technically considered a Romance language. Furthermore, Latin was the academic and religious lingua franca of the day, which further facilitated the integration of Latin vocabulary into English.

English has continued to be influenced by a number of different languages and is commonly known as a “borrowing language.” The bizarre spelling of these three common English words aptly illustrate this fascinating phenomena:

February

Have you ever wondered why February has that random, silent first r?

Well, February, like the names of most months, has Latin roots. It descended from Februarius, a month in the ancient Roman calendar. The name actually comes from the festival of februum, a purification ritual celebrated during the month.

The ancient Roman calendar was eventually reformed by Julius Cesar in 46 BC. This new Julian calendar, which divided the year into 365 days and twelve months, is the foundation of our current Gregorian calendar.

Wednesday 

Most Americans don’t pronounce the d in Wednesday. But just because you can’t hear it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. So where did this d come from? And why don’t we pronounce it?

As it turns out, Wednesday actually has Germanic linguistic origins. It is derived from the Old English word, Wōdnesdæg, which honors the Germanic god Wodan.

Wodan was one of the most important deities of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic polytheism and was especially prominent in England during the fifth and sixth centuries, before Christianity fully took root. This explains the development of the word in Old English. Wodan corresponds to the ancient Roman deity of Mercury, for whom Wednesday is named in many Romance languages, including French (Mercredi), Italian (Mercoledì), and Spanish (Miércoles).

Interestingly, Wōdnesdæg evolved to Wednesdei in the transition from Old English to Middle English, possibly because of the increased linguistic influence from French. Anyway, considering that there has been a d in Wednesday for roughly the past two thousand years, it probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Furthermore, most Brits actually do pronounce the d in Wednesday. 

Pterodactyl

The name of an ancient flying reptile, this might just be the weirdest spelling in the entire English language. This word is actually of Greek origin, coming from pteron (wing) and daktylos (finger).

So why the references to wings and fingers? Well, the name actually refers to the unique way in which this reptile’s wings are supported by its fingers. Go figure!

What are your favorite bizarrely spelled words in the English language?

Does Cursive Still Matter for Children?

By Laura Wallis for The Stir by CafeMom

When I was a kid my family moved a few times. Once, I had just started the third grade, and my class was beginning the cursive writing unit. When I arrived at my new school, that lesson was already done. So I was left to teach the skill to myself, by following the letter charts above the blackboard.

To this day, my handwriting is atrocious. But does it really matter? Do kids even need to learn cursive in school anymore? Almost all communication is digital these days, and schoolwork and note-taking are largely done on laptops after the early grades. Because federal common core standards don’t include cursive writing, and because test prep is taking up an increasing chunk of classroom time, many states have let it fall off the curriculum.

But personally, I’d rather see a little less test prep and a little more of the nearly lost art of good handwriting. Cursive is still taught at my kids’ elementary school, and I was delighted when my third grader came home with his newfound ability to write his name in script. Here’s why:

If you can’t write cursive, you may not be able to read it either.

My husband recently came upon a stack of letters his dad wrote to his mom when they were first courting, about fifty years ago. They were good old-fashioned love letters, and each was written in the nicest penmanship I’d ever seen. I want to save these and pass them on to our kids one day. I’d like them to be able to decipher them. Same goes for letters from grandparents and other older relatives and pen pals, as well as old documents that have historical value. For kids who have never been introduced to script, some of these may as well be in a foreign language.

Writing longhand still happens in the adult world.

I was famous around my old office for my chicken-scratch on editorial proofs and other documents that required handwritten comments. It’s not a good thing to be famous for. It’s also a great way to ensure mistakes get made. And while neat printing solves that problem, when you’re in a rush, neat printing can fall by the wayside. Clear cursive is faster to write and easier to read than printed chicken-scratch.

Writing by hand can help with learning.

Some studies in the last few years have found that when students take notes by hand rather than typing on a laptop, they retain more information. What’s more, an article earlier this year in Psychology Today pointed out that writing in script can help with cognitive development, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination—much like learning to play a musical instrument does. That seems worth the time spent on handwriting lessons to me.

It’s worth taking the time to make things beautiful.

This one is harder to argue when it comes to scarce classroom time, but there is something very beautiful in a hand-written letter, in a unique and ornate signature, in a place card made out by hand. My kids are proud of their ability to write sophisticated cursive letters, and it’s a skill that, even now, so many years after elementary school, I wish I’d had the chance to master.

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Laura Wallis is a freelance writer and editor specializing in all things family, home, food, and health. She currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, two children, and dog—none of whom take grammar as seriously as they should. She writes for The Stir by CafeMom.

5 Puns That Will Make You Laugh out Loud on April Fools’ Day

Looking for a laugh on April Fools’ Day? At least one of these puns is sure to make you giggle.

Share your favorite pun in the comments section!

Why You NEED to Write Every Day

Alzheimer’s, dementia, and severe memory loss affect memory, thinking, language, and behavior—even beyond expected decreases in function from the typical aging process. But according to a recent study by the Medical Journal of the American Academy of Neurology, there are some strategies to help you avoid this type of cognitive decline that you can begin working on now. First and foremost: Be a bookworm!

Scientists have found that people who are consistently engaged in mentally stimulating activities–like reading–throughout their lives have a significantly slower decline in memory loss.

Methodology:

Scientists examined 264 people around 89-years-old, following them for a total of six years. Each person was given memory tests each year throughout the study. The participants were also surveyed on the number of mentally stimulating activities they participated in throughout their childhood and adult life.

Following the death of each participant, scientists autopsied their brains for physical evidence of dementia–like brain lesions and tangles. The collective results of the surveys, memory tests, and brain autopsies found that the rate of decline was reduced by 32 percent in people with frequent mental activity in late life.

Aside from reading, what are some easy, stimulating activities that you can do to slow down the process of memory loss? At Grammarly, we believe that writing tops the list! It’s a great way to process personal thoughts or dilemmas, and to engage in critical thinking.

Here are some ways that you can encourage yourself to write on a daily basis:

• Write letters to your future self. Try drafting one letter per month and opening it one year later during that same month. In the letter, describe the goals you hope to accomplish during that month, what your challenges were, and what you are hoping will transpire by the same time next year. Also use this exercise as a motivation to check things off of your personal “bucket list.”
• Start a blog. Find a topic you are passionate about like gardening, politics, or fashion, and write about it. Set a personal goal to post a new blog entry at least once a week. Challenge yourself to write more informative, engaging articles that don’t just interest you, but will also educate your potential readers.
• Write a book about your life story. Not only will this boost your memory of things that happened in the past, but documenting your life may also serve as a helpful resource in the future. Or, if writing about the past is too challenging, try starting a diary or a journal to document life’s activities moving forward.
• Write articles about hot topics. Watch news programs and then write a story to support what you’ve watched. This will help you recall facts and important information, not to mention to become more informed about what’s going on in the world today.

There are many other activities outside of writing that can also boost brain activity. Many people use memory games, crossword puzzles, and other word games to continuously challenge their minds. The best combination of cognitive stimulation includes a healthy lifestyle and a commitment to lifelong learning. Combined, these two elements can help to keep your mind active well into your golden years.

Is formal writing too formal?

This poll is part of a series that Grammarly is running aimed at better understanding how the public feels about writing, language learning, and grammar.

Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. We can’t wait to hear from you!

If you are interested in more, check out last week’s poll.

Program vs. Programme–What’s the Difference?

In American English, program is the correct spelling. In Australian English, program and programme are both acceptable. In British English, programme is the prefered spelling, although program is often used in computing contexts.

Decades ago, program appeared in American and British writing. In the nineteenth century, the Brits started to favor the French way of spelling it—programme. However it’s spelled, it means a plan of actions, activities, or procedures, usually for a specific purpose. Alternatively, it can refer to a list of acts or performers associated with an event, such as a theatrical play or a concert. Program can also function as a verb. It means to set, regulate, or modify to produce a specific result. When referring to writing code, both British and Americans use program as the preferred spelling.

The school started a morning breakfast program before classes.

The computer whiz programmedhis computer to wake him up thirty minutes after sunrise.

The backup dancer cried when she realized her name was not included in the program.

Examples

Program in the US

“By age 18, children not served by the Chicago CPC program were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime,” he said. “And, by age 24, those who were served by the program were 20 percent less likely to have served time in a jail or prison. By age 27, children not served by the Perry Preschool program were five times more likely to be chronic offenders, with five or more arrests.”

Downtown Express

Among the gadgets is Code-A-Pillar, a caterpillar-shaped robot comprised of interchangeable segments, each of which adds a different movement command to the overall contraption, allowing the stripling scholars to program its behavior as they work out a pattern that gets the bot from Point A to Point B.

Arkansas Matters

Program and Programme Outside the US

An accomplished dancer and part of the academy’s professional training program, she recently placed third in the Youth American Grand Prix (YAGP) of dance in the senior classical ballet category.

Victoria News

Libratus, an artificial intelligence program developed at Carnegie Mellon University, was trained to play a variant of the game known as no-limit heads-up Texas hold ’em

BBC News

An Irish scientist will feature in a BBC television programme on Wednesday night, to discuss the apparent health benefits of eating fermented foods.

Victoria News

Do you find it easy to tell the difference between program and programme? It’s fun to discover the differences between American and British English. Why not check out this article about the past tense of the verbs learn and label?