The right words in the wrong places

As if the English language isn’t complicated enough, lax attention to sentence structure can lead to some unnecessary angst, or worse.

I’ve written many times that careful and deliberate word choice and sentence structure are crucial for crisp, clear and effective communication. I’m adding “order of words” to the list. It’s uncanny how shifting a word one position can affect meaning. Give that some thought.

Attentive professional writers strive to construct sentences properly and place words where they are most effective. We understand that transposing words can change meaning entirely. Most often, it probably results in a chuckle or mild embarrassment. Other times, you may find yourself having some explaining to do. Worst case, you end up having to clean up a serious misunderstanding and extend apologies all the way around.

Let’s examine how “choice words” means something entirely different than “word choices.”

I really appreciated her choice words.

I really appreciated her word choices.

Both sentences are grammatically correct, but choice words conveys anger, whereas word choices expresses admiration.

Here is another example:

The engine fire caught the attention of everyone on the street.

The fire engine caught the attention of everyone on the street.

An engine fire means someone’s vehicle is going up in smoke. You have an emergency situation and it’s not clear if the fire department has been notified. On the other hand, a fire engine commands everyone’s attention, whether it is silently passing through the neighborhood or on a run with sirens blaring. In this case, we must read more to understand why the fire engine is on the street.

Is this word swap egregious? 

Did you gauge the interest group?

Did you gauge the group interest?

An interest group implies politics, lobbyists, influence and power. Gauging an interest group means you’re taking their temperature on a topic. Group interest, on the other hand, sounds innocuous. Here, it almost appears like the individual being asked the question is expected to talk to her friends and get them to vote on whether everyone wants to go to the movies or the pizza parlor.

Let’s close with a doozy: 

You can imagine that a dry cleaner owner inadvertently misses money in the pocket of a customer’s article of clothing from time-to-time.  But money going through laundry is no big deal, right?  It depends on how you say it.

The owner of the dry cleaners always talked about money laundering.

The owner of the dry cleaners always talked about laundering money.

The former sentence could result in a raid by the Feds. That would not be a good day.

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