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12 weird and wonderful words 27 November 2015

Words, words, words… what better way of celebrating Green Light Copywriting’s 12th birthday than with 12 of the world’s most unusual and wonderful words. While some are English and some aren’t, what they all do is express something of the experiences that have shaped the past 12 years.

1. Meraki

Originating from Greece, Meraki is a wonderful word which means to do something with creativity or to really put yourself into your work. At the risk of sounding cheesy, this is something I’ve always aimed to do with my copywriting services, whether it’s for a manufacturing company or an accountancy firm. But more importantly than putting myself into it, I’ve aimed to put the client into it. That’s because copywriting isn’t simply the process of writing well. It’s the art of expressing a company’s character, like the ghost blog posts that always sound like my clients, rather than me!

2. Mudita

Mudita, a lovely Pali word, is all about finding enjoyment in the happiness of others. When I write for businesses, I’m not just producing content which fills the brief, but doing my best to support my client’s goals, be it to speak more dynamically online or to increase awareness of their new products. Mudita is the reason I’ve really enjoyed building up long-term relationships with clients.

3. Lagom

Lagom. This funny little Swedish word means just the right amount – no more and no less. Which is how you could sum up copywriting – creating a message which fits just right. That’s all I need to say on that one.

4. Logolepsy

I’m a proud sufferer of logolepsy. Yes, I’m obsessed with words. It’s this fixation which first sparked my freelance career and then the 12 years (so far) of Green Light Copywriting. And it’s not going away any time soon.

5. Blatherskite

We’ve all met a blatherskite – the person who talks and talks, but by the end of the conversation you’re no clearer about who they are or what they do. So too with business content which goes on and on, but leaves the reader no closer to understanding exactly why they should use that company’s services. I’ve made it my mission in the past 12 years to banish blatherskites from the world of business content.

6. Luculent

What a delicious word (oops, my logolepsy is showing again). Sort of like succulent, but even better. Luculent refers to writing or speech which is clearly expressed. I’ve been delighted to devote the last 12 years to bringing luculence into the world of business communications.

7. Camouflanguage

This odd word refers to the kind of language which makes full use of jargon or vagueness to avoid making a clear statement. Quite clearly, a big part of my role as a copywriter in the past 12 years and onwards is fighting against camouflanguage and jargon.

8. Nudiustertian

This delicious word means the day before yesterday. It is the point in time at which many clients need their content. All part of the service.

9. Selcouth

Selcouth is a word that expresses itself, to some extent. That’s because this unusual old word actually means rare, strange or wonderful. I’ve had the delight of working with many unusual companies over the last 12 years. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with lots of wonderful people. Speaking of wonderful, I lost a special friend very suddenly at the start of this year. But that description’s doing him a disservice. He wasn’t just a true friend, he was my confidante and adviser on many aspects of life and work. And he shared my love of words and daft puns. I was fortunate to know one as selcouth as him.

10. Sprachgefühl

This interesting German word refers to the character of a language or an intuitive feeling for what is linguistically appropriate. Appropriate isn’t something that gets a lot of airtime in the world of business content, yet it applies to both to copywriting tone of voice and to the messages we choose. Get these wrong and you can do lasting damage to your business.

11. Swasivious

Business content that isn’t swasivious isn’t going to get very far. Swasivious means something that is agreeable or persuasive and certainly applies to the role of copywriting. Not from the hard-sell point of view, of course, but from the perspective of creating a positive and enduring connection with the reader and building from there.

12. Floccinaucinihilipilification

How could I resist? One of the longest words in the English language, floccinaucinihilipilification, means the estimation of something as having no value. Its use in the House of Commons in 2012 even earned an MP a place in the record books! I’ve been lucky enough over the past 12 years of Green Light Copywriting (and before that) to help make sure that companies are recognised for their true value. It’s my job to draw out and express exactly what is valuable about a business and bring it into their content. But I’ve also been hard at work creating content which is of value both to businesses and to their customers. Here’s to the next 12 years!

Now I’m going to have a birthday drink and see if I can still say “floccinaucinihilipilification”…