We've been burglarized!

Don't panic, we haven't really. But I find writing this strange Americanism – let alone saying it aloud – amusing to say the least.

In the UK, we know this word as BURGLED. That's what a 'burglar' does. He burgles. For example: "Man, 62, burgles old lady's house and steals her purse."

My husband raised a good point yesterday (having just become a British citizen, I think he's finally starting to see the faults in American English aka 'the light'). He asked, why does a burglar burglarize if a shopper doesn't shopperize and a driver doesn't driverize?

I agree. A terrorist terrorizes... so the noun would have had to be 'burglarist', wouldn't it?

Who knows where it came from. Sometimes language has no logic.

All I do know is that I'm not a fan of this weird 'burglarize' word and don't appreciate it being used this side of the Atlantic, thank you very much Daily Mail. Even if you do change the suffix to the British '-ised', you're still not getting it past me.

In case you're interested, here's a little more background on these two words

Up close and personal

For me the thing that makes the most difference to a piece of copy, besides using plain English that Joe Public can understand, is how personal it is. I’m not talking ‘have you ever shaved your back’ personal. I just mean being warm and direct.

Today I received my weekly newsletter from Innocent smoothies. Like a lot of people, I’m a sucker for their copy (speaking of which, there’s a funny story below about an interview I once had – not with Innocent I hasten to add*). I don't even buy their smoothies.

Anyway, the subject line of the email was ‘The Amelia edition’, which had me hooked immediately. Who was this mysterious Amelia? Well, turns out she’s just some girl from Brighton who tweeted a few weeks ago about wanting to be in an Innocent newsletter.

Innocent didn’t blow the trumpet about it. They just added a few lines up top letting people know who Amelia was. Just so happens it also gave them something to focus the edition on (the Innocent newsletter is never really about Innocent stuff – it’s an eclectic mix of random facts and stories).

Thing is, they don’t actually write about Amelia from Brighton in the newsletter. Instead they write about famous Amelias in general, with a few other bits and pieces. But after reading it, I still came away with a fuzzy feeling inside and thinking to myself ‘isn’t that a nice idea’.

Sometimes, to make a piece of copy personal, all you have to do is let the reader know you’ve thought of them. Or that you’re thoughtful full stop. It’s not rocket science, but it’s something so many organisations still fail to do. All too often companies write about what they want to say – not about what their readers are interested in.

*Story about an interview I once had: Third or fourth question in, CEO asks me, “How would you describe a trip to Burma in the style of Innocent smoothies?” I’m sorry, but really? I’ve never even been to Burma before! And wouldn't this guy rather that his company have its own unique tone of voice, instead of just copying Innocent? I knew there and then that I’d turn down the job even if they offered it to me. Which they didn’t.