When a Canard is Not a Duck.

Canard is the French word for duck.

But a canard is also a misleading fabrication or deliberated falsehood.

The French had a saying, "vendre des canards a moitie," literally, "to half-sell ducks," meaning to fool or cheat.

Regardless of usage, you'll be runnning a fowl/afoul.

Leadership Butterflies.

Dan Cathy, president and COO of Chick-fil-A, maintains that great leaders push themselves through the inevitable "butterflies" that come with pioneering.

I agree: all eventual achievement is initially accompanied by fear, anxiety and doubt.

Check out his blog at: http://www.dantcathy.com/2009/12/leadership-butterflies.

Pig Love.

I'm a bacon devotee.

And, really, I'm a bit suspicious of those who don't love the salty, greasy stuff.

And I'm talking pork, not turkey or tofu masquerading as bacon. I'm really suspicous of folks who try to pass that stuff off as an acceptable subsitute.

So, I was crushed to find out--too late--that I had missed BaconFest Chicago.

But you can bet your squeal my calendar will be marked for next year's event. I'm bookmarking http://baconfestchicago.com/.

Are You a Satisfier or a Maximizer?

Research has shown that there are two types of consumers: satisfiers and maximizers.

Whether I'm buying a mattress, a bottle of wine or a pair of jeans, I am a maximizer.

How do you know which you are?

Satisfiers are content to make decisions with minimal research. Once they have met basic criteria, they believe most of the time their decisions will be satisfactory.

Conversely, maximizers seek as much information as possible before making a decision. They need to exhaustively explore options to gain confidence that their decision is optimum.

If you have a gnawing feeling that there is something more just around the corner...or you buy things and have a change of heart...ahem, you are a maximizer.

My condolences.

Incidentally, satisfiers are happier than maximizers, who tend to experience a lot of anxiety over decision-making.

As a writer, I have learned that clients fall into the same two camps. As do projects. And it's important to recognize who's who so you can meet stated--and more importantly, unstated--expectations.

To Beat the (Brass) Band.

In the May issue of GQ, writer Tom Carson reviews Treme, HBO's new series about post-Katrina New Orleans.

Here's colorful line: "When [actor] John Goodman vents, even brass bands shut up."

Gets the point across--and brings a smile, huh?

A Memorable Simile.

Similes, if you'll recall from a distant English class, are comparisons of two unlike things using the word "as" or "like."

The technique is frequently employed in books, music, TV and advertising because similies have the power to vividly demonstrate a point.

Yet few are arresting to the ear.

In a recent episode of Modern Family, ABC's hit TV sitcom, a truly inspired simile was uttered: "I feel like I ate the sun."

As both a writer and a reader, I'm keeping my ear tuned for fresh similies.

Let me know if you "hear" a good one.

A Scintilla's Worth.

Twice in two days I heard a $10 vocabulary word, scintilla, used. Once in print, once in conversation.

It catches your ear, that word.

Scintilla means a shred or tiny particle. A scarcely detectable amount.

"Thanks to the neighbor's barking dog, I got only a scintilla of sleep."

No sleep, but I made my friends snap to attention with clever word usage.