I am not a word snob.  There.  I’ve said it.  And ohmygoodnessgracious … do I feel better!

I am not in denial, that convenient if not clichéd defense mechanism so often tapped when faced with a fact that is too painful to accept.  Indeed, I am not rejecting anything, despite what may be overwhelming evidence to the contrary throughout this website.  Truth be told, I wholeheartedly embrace the fabricated word, the concocted declaration, the made-up phrase or chic slang.  I believe they all have a place -- a strong and important place -- in life, in business and in marketing.  The invented word or words shrewdly utilized can pound home a heckuva point and often get you the props and bling you desire. 

Doubt me?  

What other than a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom could have delivered the goods with more panache?  What else do you call a whatchamacallit?  What’s hmm, hmm good?  Who doesn’t want to be a Pepper?  And don’t you think that copacetic is just about the coolest word ever to describe how everything is alright? 

If your wife (like mine) is beautimus and you adore her morethanlifeitsownself, you’re a darned lucky man.  You’ve possibly achieved the revered state of hacunamatada! 

“Special” words -- un-words? -- take on meaning in the mind’s eye even if not defined.  And that’s a very good thing for marketing and PR types!  What’s the Un-Cola?  I don’t know exactly where the valley of the jolly (ho, ho, ho) Green Giant is, but his green beans can be found in WestByGodVirginia (amongst other places).  You can usually find one of those flippydoos at the same store, but if you can’t find one, look for that tube of a little dab’ll do ya. 

Tell me that you don’t know what’s finger-lickin' good or that you’re not expecting lots of drivelspeak the closer we get to the presidential elections.  You know prezactly what I’m talking about!  If someone told you to MacGyverize something … well, you’d reflexively know to improvise and figure it out, wouldn’t you?  Heck, I had a punch-buggy in which the thingamabob constantly required ingenious efforts on my part to keep it rolling, rolling, rolling (Rawhide!).

If your son was up until o-dark-thirty doing homework, you’d be proud of his sticktuativeness.  If he ducked out of the way of chin music on the ball field, you’d jump up and shout, “S'up wit dat?!?”  If your son then skootched up on the plate and cranked the next pitch out of the ballpark, it would be unsportsmanlike, indeed, if he were to direct a “Whosyurdaddy?!?” at the pitcher as he rounded third, wouldn’t it? 

If your company designs the latest and greatest wowzer of a widget, your profits could be gianormous -- oops, “they” just made that a real word -- next quarter and you could well end up controlling your market … yep, the whole kitandkaboodle.  Don’t forget to change your @addresses if you move uptown! 

Do those sentences and words not present clear visions to the mind’s eye?  It’s almost, but not quite, WYSIWYG, yet you won’t find many of those words and phrases in your standard dictionary. 

Yes … Lordy, I’m picky -- check out my preaching throughout the rest of the website.  However, when I state that the use of the right word is important, I’m not always referring to complementary versus complimentary, ensure versus insure, disburse versus disperse, effect versus affect.  If your focus is ratcheting up business … or if you want to touch a sweetheart’s soul … or underscore your frustration with a service poorly delivered … or scold your local editorialist, there is a difference between the right word and the right word.  The latter is the best choice for the situation or the superior pick to sell the product.  To get everyone to pay attention, keep paying attention and remember you.  Besides, if everyone knows exactly what you’re talking about or promoting, who’s to say that it’s not a word?  If “it” gets to the heart of what makes consumers tick, it’s fair game.

Anyone who disses the use of well-placed, made-up words that effectively get the point across and make folks remember the goods probably believes that Paul McCartney’s best band was Wings. 

Fuhgetabout!