I’ve been writing reviews and OpEds for near two decades now and I’ve learned two important lessons.

First, writing my sentences and articles is precisely like writing a song. I have to use my words and sentences to compose an ebb and flow that keeps the reader engaged.

Two, words can have unintended alternate meanings, thereby changing the message you wished to convey.

The word that has been nagging at me for the past several months is “cheap”. I hear it on You Tube and read it in articles. Obviously, they mean it to convey the thought “inexpensive”.

But if you go onto You Tube to praise the iPad 9 for being “cheap”, a non-techie is going to misunderstand your meaning. They’’ll think it’s not as durable as the other iPads in the line-up though it truly is.

I’d hate to think that people hear about the entry-level iPad or iPad mini then hear the word “cheap’, and then move on!

Plus you’ll never hear the end of it from your Microsoft and Android brethren: “You see! Even they said the word ‘cheap”. You’ll never be able to convince them otherwise – they hold the smoking gun.

So please, I’m not asking you to use superfluous words. Simply use the most accurate and descriptive ones.

©2021 Frank Petrie