10 Things You Should Avoid Saying in a Job Interview

Could the things you’re saying during job interviews be costing you offers? Knowing the right things to say requires practice and a little finesse. But accidentally saying the wrong thing is all too easy to do. Interviews are stressful, and it can be challenging to keep a cool head when your palms are sweating and your heart is beating double-time.

Taking the time to prepare can mean the difference between walking away from an interview with a sinking feeling and landing the sweet gig you’ve been hoping for. Study this list of the top ten things you should avoid saying during an interview and you’ll be less likely to make critical mistakes.

1So, what does this job pay?

Sure, salary is a concern, but this is a question to save for later. Generally, you’ll address salary after you’ve received an offer of employment. If you have concerns that the wage might not be competitive, save them until you’ve been offered a second interview. Talking salary too early in the process will make it seem as though you’re more concerned about money than you are about the work itself.

2I’ll do whatever.

Sure, you need a job, but interviews are not the time to let your desperation show. Employers want to know that you’re passionate about the work they’re considering hiring you to do. If you want to express that you’re open to different kinds of work, you might say, “I love working in [career specialty], but I’m also versatile and I enjoy learning new things. I’m open to exploring different roles.”

3My last boss was a total _______.

So, your last boss really was a horrible micromanager who blamed you for everything that went wrong. Your potential new boss doesn’t need to hear it. Bad-mouthing your previous boss, manager, or even other coworkers will only raise red flags. A hiring manager isn’t likely to see your boss as the tyrant you’re making him out to be. It’s more likely she’ll see you as someone who might be difficult to work with.

4Perfectionism is my biggest weakness.

Here’s the thing—you think you’re being clever when you tell a hiring manager that your one true weakness is that you want everything to be flawless. But what she’s hearing will sound more like “Oh, woe is me—I’m so fabulous that nothing short of perfection will do!” Not to mention, you’ll be spouting a cliché she’s probably heard dozens, if not hundreds of times before. Yes, you may be asked to address the question of your weaknesses, but there are better ways to answer.

5I hate my job.

Maybe you do hate your job, but when you’re interviewing you need to play this fact close to the vest. Make diplomacy your watchword. If you need to address job challenges as part of the “Why are you leaving your current position?” question, frame them as positively as you can. Otherwise, you risk the hiring manager perceiving you as difficult to please, which also means that you might not be satisfied with what the position has to offer.

6I was the company’s go-to person, with a proven track record for creating win-win scenarios.

Buzzwords and clichés don’t make you sound sharp or impressive; they make you seem as though you value flash over substance. Instead, come to the table with solid documentation of your successes. Facts and numbers say a lot more to a potential employer than telling him you “think outside the box.” In fact, saying that you “think outside the box” is more likely to indicate that you don’t.

7What’s your policy on working from home?

Companies are getting more comfortable with the idea of employees working from home at least some of the time, but don’t ask about the possibility of telecommuting during the interview. If a work-from-home situation is what you need, you should apply for jobs with listings that specifically state that remote work is part of the offering.

8Is the schedule flexible?

No one wants to hire someone who’s asking them to adjust to their schedule rather than the other way around. Once you have a job offer, it’s okay to ask for some scheduling leeway if you absolutely need it, but not before.

9Tell me about what this company does.

If you want a job offer, you should have already done your homework, which means you should know what the company does. Instead of asking for a broad explanation of what the company’s all about, go to your interview armed with what you already know. Ask specific clarifying questions. For example: “On your blog, I read that customer service improvements are a major focus for [company] right now. Could you tell me more about how those new initiatives carry over to the sales team?”

10No, I don’t have any questions.

When the hiring manager asks “Do you have any questions for me?” you should absolutely have some. Prepare thoughtful questions in advance. Hiring works both ways—the hiring manager wants to learn whether you’re a fit for the position, but she also wants to see that you care enough to assess whether the position is a fit for you. Otherwise, you just look desperate. If you’re at a loss for questions, here are fifty-one of them.

Capitalization in Quotes

Capitalize the First Word in a Sentence that Is a Direct Quote

When quoting, the first word of a complete sentence should be capitalized, regardless of its placement within the main sentence.

Matthew said, “In that case, I’m going out for a walk!”

Since grade school, we’ve learned that capitalization is reserved for the beginnings of sentences, so when we see a capital letter mid-sentence, it can make us feel as though there’s an error. When using quotations, though, capitalization in mid-sentence is common. More specifically, when quotations form complete sentences, they must be capitalized no matter where they appear in the main sentence. All of the sentences below are correct, for example:

“We are not amused.” – Queen Victoria

Neil Young’s admonishment “It’s better to burn out than it is to rust” is not appreciated by everyone.

Don’t Capitalize Quotes that Are Only Partial Sentences

Quotations within a sentence aren’t always capitalized, however. When the quote is a piece of a bigger quote or a sentence fragment, no capitalization is necessary. Consider the sentences below, and note the lack of capitalization in quotes within these sentences:

William Butler Yeats said that education should not be passive and dull, but that it should be seen as “… lighting a fire.”

When accused, Richard Nixon maintained that he was “not a crook.”

Top 5 Most Frustrating Writing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Recently Grammarly asked its social media communities which writing mistakes were the worst kinds of errors. Our fans tend to find substantive grammatical trip-ups, like verb errors, far more frustrating than typographical errors and “stylistic” errors, such as homophone misspelling and preposition placement.

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Here are the top five worst writing mistakes and how to avoid and correct them.

1Incorrect verb forms — 51%

Irregular verb forms are one of the most difficult grammar concepts to master, even for native speakers—many of whom use incorrect irregular forms without realizing it. While these “mistakes” are part of English dialects all over the world, these non-standard forms carry a stigma that can significantly damage your credibility if used in formal settings, like business or school. Here are the most common verb conjugation mistakes:

I seen vs. I saw

I seen the movie last week.

I saw the movie last week.

I been vs. I have been

I been there!

I have (I’ve) been there!

I done vs. I did

I done the homework.

I did the homework.

We was vs. we were

We was just about to start the reading.

We were just about to start the reading.

2Subject-verb disagreement — 20%

In many languages, it is important that the subject of the sentence aligns correctly with the verb conjugation in terms of number and gender. Since English does not conjugate verbs to reflect the gender of the subject, you only need to pay close attention to the number of the subject—is it a singular or plural noun?

The struggles that the horse experiences while climbing the mountain is intense.

Here the subject the struggles does not align with the verb “is.” Because struggles is plural, the verb should be are.

The struggles that the horse experiences while climbing the mountain are intense.

In English, irregular verbs and compound subjects make subject-verb agreement somewhat tricky. Irregular verbs, like those above, must be memorized, but compound subjects follow a simple rule—they are plural. See below for an example using the compound subject Jane and Mark.

Jane and Mark are running a marathon this month.

3Run-on sentences — 10%

According to Grammarly’s research, run-on sentences are among the top grammar mistakes made by writers worldwide. A run-on sentence contains two or more independent clauses (a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and that can stand alone as a sentence) that are not connected with correct punctuation. Though there are different kinds of run-on sentence errors, most often writers neglect to use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, etc.).

I enjoy writing immensely but my deadline is looming I am starting to feel overwhelmed.

I enjoy writing immensely, but my deadline is looming; I am starting to feel overwhelmed.

Each independent clause must be set apart from other independent clauses with punctuation or a comma and conjunction. Punctuation marks that are ideal for marking complete sentences are periods (full-stops), semicolons, and em dashes.

4Comma splices — 6%

Comma splices and run-on sentences go hand in hand. In fact, all comma splices are run-on sentences.

He was very hungry, he ate a whole pizza.

He was very hungry. He ate a whole pizza.

He was very hungry, so he ate a whole pizza.

To splice means to connect or join. When a writer joins two independent sentences with a comma instead of separating them with a period or a coordinating conjunction, that’s a comma splice.

The comma has its own jobs to do, but connecting two independent sentences isn’t one of those jobs. Besides, the period gets testy when his sister, the comma, steals his thunder. Periods have their jobs, and so do commas, but never the twain shall meet—unless it’s in the form of a semicolon. Semicolons can also take the place of a coordinating conjunction, such as “and,” “but,” or “so,” among others.

5Pronoun-antecedent disagreement — 5%

John had a card for Helga but couldn’t deliver it because he was in her way.

John had a card for Helga but couldn’t deliver it because Tim was in Helga’s way.

When you use the pronouns “her” or “him,” readers need to know to whom those pronouns refer. A pronoun without a clear antecedent is ambiguous.

In our example sentence demonstrating an ambiguous pronoun, the reader is unsure who the second “he” is. Was John in the way, or was there another “he” involved? As noted in the corrected example, the pronoun “he” refers to Tim, who is card-blocking Helga. Always be sure your pronouns refer to a specific antecedent.

Additionally, 5% of respondents said that the worst error was not listed in the poll. Participants listed homophone, apostrophe, and contraction spelling errors as the most frustrating, while others cited using textspeak in professional settings and plagiarism as the most egregious writing mistakes.

What do you think? We love hearing from our community.

Grammarly’s weekly polls are published every Wednesday and cover a range of subjects related to the state of writing, grammar, and education. You can find and participate in our most recent poll here.

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Can You Actually Use Emojis in Work Emails?

Chances are you encounter emojis on a daily basis. These adorable icons are popping up everywhere—in texts with friends and family, social media posts, and even in the movie theater.

But are they in your work emails? And—here’s the more salient question—should they be in your work emails?

Emoji use has risen steadily since their creation in Japan in the late 1990s. For many of us they’re now a normal part of digital communication, but do they belong in the workplace? If you include a smiley emoji in a message to your boss, are you building rapport—or will your boss think you’re unprofessional? How about sending the pile of poo emoji to a colleague?

Whether you’re plagued with anxiety wondering which emojis are appropriate, or you’ve been showering your colleagues with emojis left and right, you’ll want to keep reading.

Today we’re navigating the subtle nuances of emoji use in the workplace and delivering some real answers for this oft-asked question of business etiquette.

Why Do We Use Emojis?

If there’s controversy around emojis in business communication, then why do we feel compelled to use them? Why not forego them altogether?

The simple answer: we want to be better understood.

Email communication is notoriously problematic in that it lacks the emotional cues we rely on with face-to-face or phone conversations. Without tone of voice or facial expressions to guide us, there’s a lot of room for misunderstanding when we read an email. Messages meant to be positive are often interpreted as neutral, and neutral messages are interpreted as negative.

Remember that time you wrote your boss a detailed, well-thought-out email, only to receive a terse, one-line response? Chances are your boss was happy with your work, but their email failed to convey the warmth and approval that a face-to-face or phone conversation would have.

No one wants to be misunderstood or perceived as a jerk, so we’ve invented ways to circumvent the ambiguity of email. According to a 2014 study, we use emoticons in our emails not to directly convey emotions, but as context clues to show the recipient how to interpret our message. (For example, including a smiley after a line that’s meant to be a joke.)

But when you send that winkie emoji to your boss, are you communicating more effectively or could it actually be hurting your cause?

Why You Shouldn’t Use Emojis in Work Emails

We may have the best of intentions when we use emojis in our work communication (greater warmth, better rapport!) but recent research on emoji use has presented discouraging results.

Grimly titled The Dark Side of a Smiley: Effects of Smiling Emoticons on Virtual First Impressions, the study found that:

…contrary to actual smiles, smileys do not increase perceptions of warmth and actually decrease perceptions of competence. Perceptions of low competence in turn undermined information sharing.

To sum this up, if you use a smiley in communication with someone you don’t know well, they

• Probably won’t perceive your message as “warmer”
• Probably will perceive you as “less competent.”
• Will probably include less information in their response to you because they see you as incompetent

Ouch! That’s a pretty serious backfire. Based on this new information, should we banish emojis from the workplace forever?

Not entirely.

The study also found that a smiley can replace an in-person smile if you already have a relationship with the recipient.

Conclusion? Emojis can be helpful when used in the right context.

Which is great, but now you’re probably wondering what the “right” context is. To answer that question we’ve put together some dos and don’ts of emoji use, and it all comes down to who your audience is.

When NOT to Use Emojis

It’s generally a bad idea to use emojis in the following contexts:

• With someone you have not developed a relationship with
• With your boss or other superiors
• With your clients
• With coworkers you have an uncomfortable relationship with
• In a workplace that is inherently more formal (If you’re wearing a suit, you shouldn’t be using emojis!)
• To fully replace words (e.g., using a heart emoticon instead of the word “love”)
• In a message with bad news or an uncomfortable request (e.g., adding a frownie after asking someone to work over the weekend may annoy the recipient instead of smoothing things over)
• In ambiguously worded messages (The best way to avoid miscommunication is to write clear, unambiguous messages!)

When Emojis Are Beneficial

Here are some contexts where you can use emojis to build rapport:

• With your coworkers if your workplace culture is informal (e.g., at most tech startups)
• Shooting quick emails to your close-knit team
• Chatting with your team on Slack or other messaging apps
• In correspondence with someone at the same level as you who also uses emojis

Here’s a tip: Even in contexts where emoji use is okay, it’s still best to stay away from unusual, ambiguous or offensive emojis. So stick to the basic smiley and limit the smiling poop to your personal texts.

You’ve been lied to. Here’s why you absolutely can end a sentence with a preposition.

Grammar snobs love to tell anyone who will listen: You should NEVER end a sentence with a preposition! Luckily for those poor, persecuted prepositions, that just isn’t true. Here are a few preposition guidelines:

Don’t end a sentence with a preposition

1In formal writing

Which journal was your article published in? (Casual)

In which journal was your article published? (Formal)

It’s not an error to end a sentence with a preposition, but it is a little less formal. In emails, text messages, and notes to friends, it’s perfectly fine. But if you’re writing a research paper or submitting a business proposal and you want to sound very formal, avoid ending sentences with prepositions.

2If something is missing

He walked down the street at a brisk pace, with his waistcoat buttoned against the cold and a jaunty top hat perched atop.

The preposition atop is missing an object all together. Let’s try that again:

He walked down the street at a brisk pace, with his waistcoat buttoned against the cold and a jaunty top hat perched atop his stately head.

It’s ok to end a sentence with a preposition

1 In informal writing or conversation

To whom should I give a high five?

Who should I give a high five to?

Unless you’re a time traveler from another era, you’ll probably use the second sentence when speaking. Informal language is generally accepted in conversation and will likely allow your conversation to flow more smoothly since your friends won’t be distracted by your perfectly precise sentence construction.

2 If the preposition is part of an informal phrase

Five excited puppies are almost too many to put up with.

Also correct:

A good plate of spaghetti should not be so hard to come by.

Both ‘put up with’ and ‘hard to come by’ are commonly accepted informal phrases, and it’s OK to end sentences with them. Note, however, that you should avoid these phrases in formal writing.

What makes up a grammar lover? We studied our Grammarly community and here’s what we found.

Recently, the Grammarly community grew to over 7 million language-loving friends — more than 5 million can be found on Facebook. We have enjoyed sharing our love of language and writing with the world. In honor of the growth of such a passionate and fun community, we surveyed our fans to find out more about what makes a grammar nerd!

Here’s what we found:

What kind of grammar lover are you?

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Quiz: How Understandable Is Your Writing?

Plain language is a style of communication that ensures readers (or listeners) can understand a message quickly, easily, and completely.

But how do you know if you’re actually using plain language? Surely, just being able to decipher business jargon isn’t good enough on its own. How do you know if the language you use is “plain enough”?

To overcome complex jargon, understandable writing and communication

• uses formatting, bullets, and headings to convey information quickly and easily,
• prioritizes simple words over complicated phrases, jargon, and idiomatic phrases, and
• uses the active voice.

To help you decide if your writing is understandable, we’ve put together a quick plain language quiz that looks at your writing habits to tell you whether you’re a plain language master or in need a little practice.

How understandable is your writing? Which bad habits should you work on?

The Skinny on Latin Plurals

If you speak and write English, it’s most common to use an S or ES ending to make a noun plural. However, some words that derive from Latin have retained their Latin plural endings. Let’s talk about some of the most useful of these words. Certain words English has borrowed from Latin retain Latin endings in their plural forms: alga (algae), larva (larvae), and nucleus (nuclei). Two common words—alga and larva—always end in E in the plural form. Alga is rarely singular as it grows in groups. The plural form algae is well-known. Larvae is the plural of larva. To make nucleus plural, you would drop the last two letters and replace them with the letter I. Other plurals are controlled by the context. For example, the plural of appendix can be appendices if you are talking about information that the end of a book. On the other hand, if you’re talking about the part of your anatomy, you would use appendixes.

Here’s a tip: In the world of science, you will often see Latin plurals for focus, formula, index, and vortex (foci, formulae, indices, and vortices, respectively). But in everyday use, they are more likely to appear as focuses, formulas, indexes, and vortexes.

Data is the plural of a Latin word that many don’t know or use—datum. In some scientific fields, it functions as a plural noun that takes a plural verb. (The data were analyzed and recorded.) However, in everyday English, people usually use it as a noncount noun and pair it with a singular verb. Latin gives us many other plurals. Why not make a list of Latin words that you use often and check their plurals? You can start with the ones here and add criterion, syllabus, and any others that you think you will need.

To vs. Too

• To is a preposition with several meanings, including “toward” and “until.”
• Too is an adverb that can mean “excessively” or “also.”
• Just to be clear: two is pronounced the same as to and too, but it can’t be used instead of either of them because it’s a number.

In the hierarchy of things that drive grammar sticklers mad, to and too are near the top. It’s very common to see them confused, abused, and misused, and not just in YouTube comments or on Reddit. People seem to mix up these two funny little words all over the place, and it’s something that can happen to anyone.

How to Use To

To is a preposition and a versatile little word that can be used to say many things. You can use it to indicate a goal or a direction of movement, as well as a place of arrival. That’s the way you use it when you say you’re going to class tomorrow. To also plays a role when we want to indicate that a verb is an infinitive.

You’ll often use to when you want to indicate a relationship between words, relationship like possession, attachment, and addition. You get attached to people, you have things that belong to you. To is also used to indicate a range or a period of time, like when you say it will take you five to ten minutes to finish something.

There are other things for which we use the word to, but by now you should know enough of them to make sure you notice the difference between it and too.

How to Use Too

Too is also a useful little word, but it’s not a preposition like to, and it doesn’t have as many meanings. You can use it instead of “besides,” “in addition,” “also,” or “as well.” But you can use it for other things, too, like when you want to indicate excessiveness. If you find grammar tough, you can say that it’s too hard. In casual speech, speakers sometimes use too in the sense of “very”: That gal is too funny!

To, Too, and Two

Apart from being spelled very similarly, to and too are pronounced the same—[too]. And there’s another word that’s also pronounced that way: the number two. We call words that share a pronunciation homophones, and if you take a look at any list of commonly confused words, you’ll find plenty of homophones on it. Words like there, their, and they’re, your and you’re, and bear and bare are up there, along with to, too, and two. It doesn’t matter whether the homophones have different meanings and uses or if they are in completely different word classes; we still mix them up.

The only way to fix this is to repeat over and over again what each of the homophones means so that people who don’t know it get the chance to learn. For those who know the difference, a few minutes of proofreading should fix the issue.

How to Remember the Difference Between To and Too

Since they are pronounced the same, you don’t have to worry about mixing up to and too in speech. It’s writing that creates problems. But there’s an easy way to make sure you’re using the correct word. Because to can be used in more ways than too, it’s easier to remember that too can be replaced with “also,” “very,” or “excessively.” If you’re not sure whether the to you’ve written should actually be a too, try replacing it with one of those substitutes. If it works, you’ve made a mistake. If it doesn’t, you’re good. You can do the same to make sure that your toos are indeed toos and not tos.

Examples of To vs. Too

Crucially the FCO stopped well short of advising against travel to France, which is the most popular holiday destination in the world (and the second-most popular, after Spain, for UK holidaymakers). —The Independent

Had David Cameron not won an election he never expected to win, he might not have lost a referendum he never expected to lose. —The Guardian

Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale has announced his engagement to long-term girlfriend Emma Rhys-Jones. —The Daily Mirror

The African turquoise killifish has one of the shortest lifespans of all vertebrates: it reaches the ripe old age of only three to twelve months. —New Scientist

But from what we’ve seen in this tournament I think she meant it, too. —The Guardian

Chances are that too much information running through our small brains clouds our thinking, making it more difficult to do our jobs. —TechCrunch

On the other hand, given that these references are too obvious, they may have been intentionally included to insinuate a Kemalist junta rather than a Gulenist one. —BBC

Adjectives and Adverbs–What’s the Difference?

Many of us learned in school that adjectives modify nouns and that adverbs modify verbs. But as we’ve seen, adjectives can also act as complements for linking verbs. This leads to a common type of error: incorrectly substituting an adverb in place of a predicate adjective. An example you’ve probably heard before is:

I feel badly about what happened.

Because “feel” is a verb, it seems to call for an adverb rather than an adjective. But “feel” isn’t just any verb; it’s a linking verb. An adverb would describe how you perform the action of feeling—an adjective describes what you feel. “I feel badly” means that you are bad at feeling things. If you’re trying to read Braille through thick leather gloves, then it might make sense for you to say “I feel badly.” But if you’re trying to say that you are experiencing negative emotions, “I feel bad” is the phrase you want.

It’s easier to see this distinction with a different linking verb. Consider the difference between these two sentences:

Goober smells badly.

Goober smells bad.

“Goober smells badly” means that Goober, the poor thing, has a weak sense of smell. “Goober smells bad” means Goober stinks—poor us.

The Top Cities in Pro Sports . . . Grammatically Speaking

In 2015, Grammarly put pro sports fans to the test. We wanted to see who had the best writing chops when they were cheering on their favorite teams online. Our first study— ranking NFL fans by their spelling, grammar, and punctuation—proved so popular that we went on to rank MLB and NBA enthusiasts, as well.

To wrap up the year in sports (Grammarly style), we decided to see which pro sports cities had game. Sports lovers in the great state of Tennessee surprised us by coming in both first and last. Memphis ranked number 1, lead by grammatically adept Grizzlies (NBA) fans. Nashville lumbered in at the back of the pack, hindered by typo-prone Titans (NFL) fans. NBA fans made the fewest mistakes overall, and NFL fans the most.

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Methodology

We began by collecting the first five comments posted under articles on each official MLB, NBA, and NFL team blog from official sports team and sports fan websites, like NFL.com and  SB Nation, until we had gathered a total of 100 comments for each team. Each comment contained at least 50 words and was posted within an average timespan of two months ending October 20, 2015.

Using Grammarly, we identified the errors in the comments, which were then verified and tallied by a team of live proofreaders. For the purposes of this study, we counted only black-and-white mistakes such as misspellings, wrong and missing punctuation, misused or missing words, and subject-verb disagreement. We ignored stylistic variations such as the use of common slang words, team and player nicknames, serial comma usage, and the use of numerals instead of spelled-out numbers.

Finally, we calculated the average number of mistakes per one hundred words by dividing the total word count of the comments by the total number of mistakes for each team.

Simile and Metaphor—What’s the Difference?

While both similes and metaphors are used to make comparisons, the difference between similes and metaphors comes down to a word. Similes use the words like or as to compare things—“Life is like a box of chocolates.” In contrast, metaphors directly state a comparison—“Love is a battlefield.”

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Here are some examples of similes and metaphors:

Life is like a box of chocolates. (Simile) My life is an open book. (Metaphor) That baby is as cute as a button!(Simile) Baby, you’re a firework.(Metaphor)

Simile vs. Metaphor Quiz

Both similes and metaphors add color and depth to language. Share your favorite similes and metaphors in the comments!

Discrete vs. Discreet: What’s the Difference?

• Discreet and discrete are homophones. They sound the same but they have different definitions.
• Discreet means careful or intentionally unobtrusive.
• Discrete means distinct or unconnected.

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Homophones are nothing but trouble. They often top the lists of commonly confused words and spelling mistakes. There’s no way of knowing what they mean unless you hear them in context or see them in writing. But even when you see them in writing, many homophone pairs are spelled so similarly that you might not know which is which. “Discreet” and “discrete” is one of these pairs.

Discreet and Discrete: What’s the Difference?

“Discreet” has the better-known meaning: inconspicuous, proper, private, or unnoticeable. If you were a person who handles problems (especially potentially embarrassing problems) without calling attention to them, you might be considered a discreet person. You can also be discreet about your accomplishments, which would mean that you’re not boastful.

“Discrete,” on the other hand, means separate. If you’re into computers, you might be aware of the difference between discrete graphics cards and integrated ones. Techwalla.com describes a discrete graphics card as a “separate, or discrete, graphics processing unit (GPU) and separate graphics memory.” Sometimes, you can directly substitute the word “discrete” for the word “separate.” For example, if you have to put together a piece of furniture that comes in five separate parts, you could say that the five parts are discrete.

Discreet Definition and Examples

You can use the adjective “discreet” in several ways:

To describe a person with proper conduct, especially with regard to speaking:

“I’d like to see him a little more discreet at times,” she said. “I would hope he would learn a little more diplomacy.” —The Chronicle Telegram

To describe a person or a thing that’s not obstructive or easily noticeable:

The Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge was launched by the NIH division as part of its commitment to look for a non-invasive, discreet wearable technology not only for use by the authorities, but also for individuals. —Science World Report

To describe person or object that is not pretentious; a modest person or object:

Service is attentive without being intrusive, in keeping with the overall air of discreet, understated elegance in the whole establishment. —Director Magazine

The adverb form of “discreet” is “discreetly:”

No one has asked to recreate any of the receptions in Four Weddings and a Funeral but it could probably be discreetly arranged. —Radio Times

To act with discretion is to avoid causing offense or revealing sensitive information. “Discreetness” is also an acceptable noun form, but it’s less common than “discretion”:

Owners have designed their business around the idea that people will be willing to pay $250 a month to eat, drink and conduct business in a place that promises discreetness in an era when every moment is documented by somebody via cellphones and social media. —Arkansas Online

Discrete Definition and Examples

The adjective “discrete” can be used to describe

A person or object that is not connected with something; a part of something that is individual and separate:

If you’re a casual or mainstream gamer, you don’t need a discrete graphics card, Intel says. Instead, look at integrated graphics, which are getting more powerful by the day, said Gregory Bryant, vice president and general manager of Intel’s desktop clients platform. —PC World

In mathematics, having a finite number of elements: There are two types of variable—discrete and continuous. A discrete variable can only take certain values from a finite set. A continuous variable can take any value. —BBC

The adjective form of discrete is “discretely”:

For the Atrum 2013 and 2014 exploration programs, all coal seams intersected were sampled. Coal plies were sampled discretely on the basis of lithological characteristics and quality. —ABN Newswire

“Discreteness” is the noun form of “discrete:”

Acquiring knowledge almost always serves the public good. Deploying that knowledge is a 50-50 enterprise at best. Recognizing the discreteness of these two elements of science is the surest way to reconcile them. —The Washington Post

You might be annoyed with pair, pare, and pear, but at least discreet and discrete no longer have to annoy you. Discrete means separate, and discreet means “with caution” or “intentionally unobtrusive.” If it is still a little confusing, try to make a mnemonic. For example, the two E’s of discrete are separated by a T, so discrete means separate. What else can you think of to distinguish these two homophones from each other?

How Long Should a Paragraph Be?

Various educators teach rules governing the length of paragraphs. They may say that a paragraph should be 100 to 200 words long, or be no more than five or six sentences. But a good paragraph should not be measured in characters, words, or sentences. The true measure of your paragraphs should be ideas.

Your childhood teacher did not wrong you when he or she taught you that there should be three, or four, or five sentences in a paragraph. It is important to understand, however, that the aim in teaching this was not to impart a hard-and-fast rule of grammar, drawn from an authoritative-but-dusty book. The true aim of this strategy was to teach you that your ideas must be well supported to be persuasive and effective.

The model regarding paragraph length that your teacher undoubtedly taught you involves a topic sentence, a number of facts that support that core idea, and a concluding sentence. The proviso about the number of sentences between the topic sentence and the conclusion was not given to you because it was the magic formula for creating paragraphs of the perfect length; rather, your educator was attempting to give you a good reason to do adequate research on your topic. Academic writing yields the best examples of the topic-support-conclusion paragraph structure.

Recent research has provided a wealth of insight about how dogs came to be domesticated by humans and the roles they played in Native American culture. DNA studies on archaeological finds suggest that dogs may have been domesticated by humans as long as 40,000 years ago. When the first humans came to North America from Eurasia, at least 12,000 years ago, domesticated dogs came with them. They appear to have been highly prized by early North American hunter-gatherers and were their only animal companions for centuries, since there were no horses on the continent until the 16th century.

You can see from this example how a topic is introduced, supported, and then brought to its natural conclusion. Yet, not all writing is academic, and once you have learned the concept behind good paragraph construction—which is really the art of focused writing in disguise—you should know that there are times when paragraph “rules” can, and should, be broken.

How to Write Paragraphs People Want to Read

The fact of the matter is that although you may have numerous valid facts or descriptions related to your paragraph’s core idea, you may lose a reader’s attention if your paragraphs are too long. What’s more, if all of your paragraphs are long, you may lose opportunities to draw your reader in. Journalists, for example, know that their readers respond better to short paragraphs. News readers generally lose interest with long descriptions and even one-sentence paragraphs are considered both acceptable and impactful.

Firefighters rushed to First Avenue today to extinguish a blaze on the 1500 block. Anguished onlookers hoped that the flames would be subdued in time to rescue the building’s most prized inhabitants.

They weren’t.

The cat hospital was gone.

When it comes to maintaining a reader’s attention, a good rule of thumb might be to avoid writing more than five or six sentences in a paragraph before finding a logical place to break. That said, remember that the idea behind a paragraph might be short and sweet, or it might merit deeper explanation. There are no strict rules about how many words or lines your paragraphs should be, and there’s no need to lock your doors if you occasionally write long or short ones. The grammar police aren’t coming for you.

Talk Like a Copy Editor and Learn Something New in the Process

If a publisher offers you a kill fee, don’t panic! They’re not asking you to murder anyone. A kill fee is money paid for a piece of writing if they decide to kill it—i.e., not publish it. If you want to make it in the writing industry (and avoid criminal charges), you need to learn the lingo. Let’s start right now.

Basic Writing Jargon

Have you heard of a policeman’s beat? It’s the area he regularly patrols. For reporters, a beat might refer to a physical location or a topic that they often cover. To illustrate, Jody Reporter might specialize in politics while John Reporter covers health care. When a politician does something notable, the newspaper will automatically assign Jody to cover the story because her beat is politics.

Jody will investigate and submit her copy to the editor. Copy is the content of a news article. Now, that makes it clear what copy editors do! They read the material, point out errors, and suggest improvements to increase clarity, readability, and accuracy.

What happens if new information becomes available after Jody’s article appears in the newspaper? The journal might invite her to write a follow-up. Follow-ups present the news from a different angle, clarify facts, or reveal new developments in the original story.

Copy Editing Abbreviations

In Jody and John’s busy press office, who has time to say a whole phrase when deadlines loom? Try to guess the full terms expressed by these abbreviations: on spec, graf, and ezine.

What if John hasn’t received any requests from publishers recently? He might take the initiative and submit a story on spec—without a contract in place. He’s taking a chance, hoping that the publishers will accept his piece. “Spec” derives from speculation. A writer speculates, based on the type of publication and what it has published in the past, that a certain piece will work well for them. If all goes to plan for John, the publishers will like his work and offer him a fair price.

A graf is a paragraph. Did you guess correctly?

Ezine stands for “electronic magazine.” Ezines may publish exclusively online, or they may also have a print edition.

Writing Expressions You Already Use

Have journalistic phrases snuck into your vocabulary without you realizing it? For example, angles aren’t just for geometry class. An angle is the perspective of a story. To illustrate, Jody might write a news article reporting the statement released by Miami’s mayor about the recent hurricane. John’s angle would cover the situation at the local hospitals as they attempt to treat people hurt during the evacuation of the city. Several reporters might pursue different angles of the same topic.

Another term you may already use in everyday speech is “kicker”. Have you said “Here’s the kicker. . .” as you added a surprising detail to a personal account? In the world of journalism, a kicker is a small headline that accompanies the main headline. Usually, it appears on the left side of the title in a different font to set it apart from the rest of the text.

Important Acronyms

When copy editors talk in acronyms, you can easily get lost. Acronyms are a type of abbreviation formed by the first letters or components of a word, syllable, or phrase. Some common writing acronyms are nib, EOD, COB, and AP style.

Nib stands for “news in brief.” Newspapers use the term when, instead of a full-length article, they publish a short paragraph covering a topic. To see an example, visit the DW website to view “top stories in three minutes.”

EOD is short for “end of day.” Some employers use EOD to refer to the end of the 24-hour day (i.e., midnight). However, most jobs mean the end of the workday. A second acronym, COB (close of business) reflects this idea more accurately than EOD. Therefore, if the publication office closes at 6 pm, Jody would need to deliver her work before that time. (For courtesy’s sake, she may want to turn in work fifty to thirty minutes before closing.) Remote workers usually use the timezone of their employers.

AP Style is a term you are likely to encounter once you get your first writing job. No, it’s not related to the Gangnam Style made famous by the South Korean recording artist PSY. AP stands for Associated Press, which, according to Thought Co., is the world’s oldest news service. The service sets the standard for writing—from how to punctuate to what words to capitalize—for newspapers and digital publications. They publish the rules in the AP Stylebook. If you don’t write according to current AP guidelines, your work will stick out like a sore thumb!

Start your journalism career on the right foot. You’ll sound like a real copy editor if you learn these industry-specific terms.