The Ambiguity Trap

Be Word Wise

Ambiguity is one of the many enemies of effective writing. In the chain of successful communication, it is often a link-breaker.

My Be Word Wise posts often focus on words or phrases that produce ambiguity.

The latest is the word ‘dropped’.

It’s become a trendy buzzword, particularly on social media but also in headlines and story previews. Used in this way, the word often implies that something new has arrived on the scene. We get that.

But ‘dropped’ also has another, well-established and sometimes opposite meaning: that something that was there before has been removed.

This reality can’t be ignored.