Oh, the power of words in skilled hands. Those of us who shape words for a living – we love words, we roll about in words - are in despair at the current standard of literacy. Graffitti, one of our great art forms, has recently deteriorated in quality; in the right hands it can still be acerbic, razor-sharp. Here’s a limp haddock of a graffitti jibe, spotted in Shoreditch, January 2007:
‘Myspace is four loosers’
How old is the writer? At one time we would have said maybe 12 or 13, but now (shudder) it could be someone of 35. What are loosers? And why are there four of them? The vital seconds of brain-time wasted on deciphering this anagram drain it of impact. Where’s the power of words there?
If you want to work in high-end public relations or advertising (and we think you do), and last longer than five minutes – practise your mastery of the first two Rs. The more you do of one, the better you’ll be at the other.
The power of words is effective only when you understand how to harness it.
This is how it should have read:
MYSPACE IS FOR LOSERS.
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