From Janetta Roach, Senior Editor, Palio

In advertising, it can be challenging to come up with fresh ideas – whether through imagery or words. As an editor, my job is to tackle the latter, ensuring that copy is not only grammatically and stylistically correct, but also improving the choice of words, if possible.

The other day I was researching a brand and came across the term portmanteau and was struck by how applicable it is to advertising.

Its original meaning derives from the French words porter (to carry) and manteau (coat) to describe a clothing bag or suitcase popular in 19th century Europe. However, it was Lewis Carroll who introduced a secondary meaning for the term in his 1871 classic Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There. Humpty Dumpty explains, “Well, ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy.’… You see it’s like a portmanteau – there are two meanings packed up into one word.” Hence, Merriam Webster’s secondary definition for the term: “a word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two or more distinct forms (as smog from smoke and fog).”

It’s no surprise that the world of advertising is rife with examples. Brands are prolific in their use of portmanteau words. Take Amgen, for example. It’s a portmanteau of applied molecular genetics. Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and track. FedEx is a portmanteau of federal and express. Intel is a portmanteau of integrated and electronics. Microsoft is a portmanteau of microcomputer and software. Even our very own inVentiv Health is a portmanteau of inChord and Ventiv Health.

Some others:

Advertorial – advertisement + tutorial
AmEx – American + Express
Blog – web + log
Bollywood – Bombay + Hollywood
Brunch – breakfast + lunch
Camcorder – camera + recorder
Infomercial – information + commercial
Jazzercise – jazz + exercise
Nabisco – national + biscuit + company
Rolodex – rolling + index
Sitcom – situation + comedy
Verizon –  veritas + horizon

So next time you’re struggling to come up with some original copy, try blending some words together and see if you find a winning combination. Who knows, you might create the next brand name or catchphrase that will Never be forgotton!

Palio is a full-spectrum global pharmaceutical and consumer advertising, marketing, and communications agency that excels in brand creation and specializes in brand strategy, product launches, global marketing, and digital and integrated media.

From Allen Mercier, Senior Editor, Palio

Have you ever considered a world without copy editors? I guarantee that most people give little thought to who’s responsible for crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s in whatever they happen to be reading. So what do you get when no thought is given to spelling, grammar, punctuation, and accuracy? Well, on the Web you get comments on articles or videos. And as we all know, “comments” are often unfiltered attacks.

Flaming, the official name for these online attacks, is everywhere. No one seems to agree on anything or to be shy about starting a flame war over nothing. The flame that always gets my attention is the spell-check attack. Whenever a comment has a misspelling, it’s sure to draw moths to the flame. So, the flame goes, your argument has no merit (and you’re an #%$%*@#) because you didn’t use “your” correctly.

So, we have simple spelling mistakes that ostensibly lead to vitriolic attacks. But we all know better than that. Editing is about clarity, not flame wars that just cloud the discussion.

Would the Internet be a more civil place if there were a copy editor in every computer? Probably not, but there would definitely be fewer typos.

Palio is a full-spectrum global pharmaceutical and consumer advertising, marketing, and communications agency that excels in brand creation and specializes in brand strategy, product launches, global marketing, and digital and integrated media.

From Allen Mercier, Senior Editor, Palio

My high school typing class is never far from my thoughts. It all began in that concrete room of hum and thrum. No, the power of the written word wasn’t on my mind. What I return to daily is far simpler. However, those simpler times now complicate my life. I see the fallout in e-mails, Word docs, InDesign files, and PDFs. Double spaces may be invisible, but I see them everywhere.

Our typing teachers taught us to insert two spaces at the end of a sentence. It’s not our fault, right? We were young and impressionable. I’ve heard the excuses ad nauseam (pharma folks will recognize this common side effect). Double spaces were perfectly acceptable in the days of the IBM Selectric, but we now live in the digital age; the rules have changed. The Chicago Manual of Style states, “A single character space, not two spaces, should be left after periods at the ends of sentences (both in manuscript and in final, published form) and after colons.”

I know what you’re thinking: Rules were meant to be broken. To that I respond with a quote from an article written by a typographic pro, Ilene Strizver: “Forget about tolerating differences of opinion: typographically speaking, typing two spaces before the start of a new sentence is absolutely, unequivocally wrong.” So please do me a favor and stop spacing out.

From Mike Radigan, Senior Editor, Palio

Ever heard of the “fat-finger theory”? As someone who used to work in the financial services industry, I’m embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t. Well, actually, let me clarify: I knew this concept existed, I just didn’t realize it had a name. And a strange one at that.

The fat-finger theory is the moniker given to the idea of how something as innocuous as a careless digit can be responsible for casting a massive economic ripple effect in global financial markets. Basically, it has to do with typos. Yes, you read that correctly. No, it’s not a typo.

In an article published on CNN.com earlier this month, Bob Greene, a contributor and best-selling author, explains how a potentially devastating typographical error can wreak frightening and very real havoc in our world economy, and how a simple, ill-executed keystroke could be responsible for a monetary meltdown. Basically, he calls attention to the fact that typos hold the power to be so damaging and yet are so often overlooked or ignored in today’s lightning-fast wired society…until they cost us all piles and piles of money.

According to Greene, earlier this month when our fragile financial system was threatened once again and the Dow dropped nearly a thousand points in 15 minutes, Wall Streeters (amongst others) began desperately searching for answers. What had happened? How could stocks and other investments plunge so quickly out of left field? Apparently, nothing of this magnitude had ever happened so unexplainably.

That’s when the fat-finger theory reared its ugly nail bed. Financial industry insiders speculated that plummeting market values were due to a “simple” mistake. In this case, suspicion fell on an anonymous stock trader racing through one of many daily transactions. In his haste to keep up with the pace of the markets and the demands of brokers and clients, this phantom trader’s careless, “fat” finger had mistakenly keyed a “b” instead of an “m,” selling billions of shares of stock in the process instead of the intended millions.

As it turns out, by the time Bob Greene’s article hit the Web, no single cause of this swift financial hit had been identified, but it was looking increasingly unlikely that a typographical error was to blame. Greene’s response to this? “Drat.”

Mr. Greene sees the lack of evidence validating the fat-finger explanation as sad. He writes, “If a typo had been shown to have [the kind of muscle to bring down a financial system], maybe the societal trend to regard typos as no big deal might have been reversed. In our computer-screen age, typos – and their cousins, misspellings and grammatical errors – have been given a reprieve.”

Greene makes an excellent point – a point I certainly agree with. The ultra-fast pace of the digital age has forced many of us to place a premium on the speed of producing the written word at the expense of accuracy. When errors accumulate, credibility is lost and online reputations suffer. Web sites, e-mails, IMs, and text messages are now dominant mediums of communication – that is undeniable. But in our rush to communicate as much and as rapidly as possible, we’re not always making sure to put our best foot forward. After all, presentation is everything.