7 ms·

I'm not going to hire a copywriter who confuses "kahunas" with "cojones."

by yuuu 5y ago

sokoloff 5y ago
Maybe she felt she was lacking in wise advisors.
scoot 5y ago
Or who has missing punctuation, or poor formatting, or bad grammar, or incorrect use of idioms, or, or, or... Sure, "everyone's a critic" (and sorry to join the crowd), but if you're going to promote yourself as a professional copywriter you should at least have a grasp of the basics.
- slg 5y ago
  Language changes based off usage. Her use of "begs the question" isn't it original meaning, but it is perfectly acceptable today. It is similar to how the dictionary definition of "literally" now includes it meaning "figuratively". Continuing to complain about these things after society has moved on just makes you sound like an old crank.
  - margalabargala 5y ago
    On the other hand, as evidenced by this thread, there exist a nonzero number of people who still care about the old "correct" choice of language. If the author is targeting people in this demographic specifically, they should know better than to provide easy ammunition for people to criticize the article. It might be fine in general writing, but if I'm a startup paying for an ostensibly well-written press release, I don't want to pay for something that spawns this exact discussion, rather than discussions about the content I want to communicate.
  - jfk13 5y ago
    Although I'm a language traditionalist at heart, this is a reasonable point. Nevertheless, the site does suffer from a number of unquestionable copy-editing errors, which do not inspire confidence in the product -- given that it is entirely focused on website copy.
- scandox 5y ago
  In fairness her focus is much more on message and content than on correctness. I do agree that she would benefit from a copy editor but the main challenge a lot of business owners have is with what to say, rather than saying it with perfect grammar. So I imagine she may well be able to help people who struggle with that. Which in my experience is almost everyone in business.
  - tasogare 5y ago
    At $600+ the prestation it has to be perfect grammar wise, especially for a service focusing on text. I was also annoyed by the wrong use of kahuna and begs the question and I'm not even a native speaker of English.
    - token6053 5y ago
      That's the thing: the copy does not need to demonstrate perfect grammar. All that matters is that the copy results in sales. Although I do realize that some may disagree with that sentiment. To each his own!
  - scoot 5y ago
    That's a fair point, as that is the primary role of a copywriter. However the author is targeting startups who are unlikely to have the budget to hire an editor to fix the copy provided by the copywriter. It should be part of the package, but on the basis of the OP's own sales copy, it isn't.
  - dghlsakjg 5y ago
    Grammar and spelling are table stakes for copywriting. A copywriter shouldn't sell themselves on it, or mention it, because it is an assumption that it will be good. When a copy writer is offering a service with bad copy, it casts into doubt their ability to write or edit copy. I ran this sentence from the article through google docs: >There was overwhelm of not knowing how to start a website, what pages to include, and what those pages should even be doing. Google docs correctly picked up the error, and made the correct suggestion. I expect that a copy editor will NEVER turn in copy that has not been run through a basic automated check.
- jmull 5y ago
  Well actually... It's OK these days, in common vernacular, to use "begs the question" to mean something that prompts or suggests a question. It's really only in the context of "Philosophy 101" (where the meaning is the logical fallacy of the premise assuming the conclusion) that it should not be used that way. If you're going to get pedantic on the Internets, you better be prepared to go all the way down. :)
- token6053 5y ago
  I've got to say it's a good thing that I'm not hired to write blog posts. Thanks for sharing your opinion! Every critique helps to build valuable skills.
token6053 5y ago
I'm glad you pointed that out! Where I'm from, we use "kahunas," not "cojones." But I'm glad to know that there's a regional difference. Also, I don't think you should trust a copywriter who uses either of those words in your copy (regardless of where they're from).

I'm not going to hire a copywriter who confuses "kahunas" with "cojones."

by yuuu 5y ago

I'm not going to hire a copywriter who confuses "kahunas" with "cojones."

sokoloff 5y ago

Maybe she felt she was lacking in wise advisors.

scoot 5y ago

Or who has missing punctuation, or poor formatting, or bad grammar, or incorrect use of idioms, or, or, or... Sure, "everyone's a critic" (and sorry to join the crowd), but if you're going to promote yourself as a professional copywriter you should at least have a grasp of the basics.

slg 5y ago
Language changes based off usage. Her use of "begs the question" isn't it original meaning, but it is perfectly acceptable today. It is similar to how the dictionary definition of "literally" now includes it meaning "figuratively". Continuing to complain about these things after society has moved on just makes you sound like an old crank.
- margalabargala 5y ago
  On the other hand, as evidenced by this thread, there exist a nonzero number of people who still care about the old "correct" choice of language. If the author is targeting people in this demographic specifically, they should know better than to provide easy ammunition for people to criticize the article. It might be fine in general writing, but if I'm a startup paying for an ostensibly well-written press release, I don't want to pay for something that spawns this exact discussion, rather than discussions about the content I want to communicate.
- jfk13 5y ago
  Although I'm a language traditionalist at heart, this is a reasonable point. Nevertheless, the site does suffer from a number of unquestionable copy-editing errors, which do not inspire confidence in the product -- given that it is entirely focused on website copy.
scandox 5y ago
In fairness her focus is much more on message and content than on correctness. I do agree that she would benefit from a copy editor but the main challenge a lot of business owners have is with what to say, rather than saying it with perfect grammar. So I imagine she may well be able to help people who struggle with that. Which in my experience is almost everyone in business.
- tasogare 5y ago
  At $600+ the prestation it has to be perfect grammar wise, especially for a service focusing on text. I was also annoyed by the wrong use of kahuna and begs the question and I'm not even a native speaker of English.
  - token6053 5y ago
    That's the thing: the copy does not need to demonstrate perfect grammar. All that matters is that the copy results in sales. Although I do realize that some may disagree with that sentiment. To each his own!
- scoot 5y ago
  That's a fair point, as that is the primary role of a copywriter. However the author is targeting startups who are unlikely to have the budget to hire an editor to fix the copy provided by the copywriter. It should be part of the package, but on the basis of the OP's own sales copy, it isn't.
- dghlsakjg 5y ago
  Grammar and spelling are table stakes for copywriting. A copywriter shouldn't sell themselves on it, or mention it, because it is an assumption that it will be good. When a copy writer is offering a service with bad copy, it casts into doubt their ability to write or edit copy. I ran this sentence from the article through google docs: >There was overwhelm of not knowing how to start a website, what pages to include, and what those pages should even be doing. Google docs correctly picked up the error, and made the correct suggestion. I expect that a copy editor will NEVER turn in copy that has not been run through a basic automated check.
jmull 5y ago
Well actually... It's OK these days, in common vernacular, to use "begs the question" to mean something that prompts or suggests a question. It's really only in the context of "Philosophy 101" (where the meaning is the logical fallacy of the premise assuming the conclusion) that it should not be used that way. If you're going to get pedantic on the Internets, you better be prepared to go all the way down. :)
token6053 5y ago
I've got to say it's a good thing that I'm not hired to write blog posts. Thanks for sharing your opinion! Every critique helps to build valuable skills.

token6053 5y ago

I'm glad you pointed that out! Where I'm from, we use "kahunas," not "cojones." But I'm glad to know that there's a regional difference. Also, I don't think you should trust a copywriter who uses either of those words in your copy (regardless of where they're from).