In 1066 the French Normans invaded England and changed the way English works forever.

The natives in Great Britain spoke a language called Old English, which is unintelligible to Modern English speakers. The Normans brought French along with them and French overtook English as the language of the ruling class in England.

Over the next three centuries Old English and French mixed together. They spawned a new language called Middle English, which is what Shakespeare spoke and is an early form of Modern English.

So why should you care?

Because knowing the difference between the newer French words and Old English words makes you a better writer.

As a general rule, short words are Old English words. Longer ones are French-based.

When you write you need to form a connection with the reader. Big French words make it seem like you’re speaking in a Norman court. But the short, old words you use all the time make communication less formal and more personal.

Take these two sentences:

• Elena drove to the mall and got a soda.
• Ms. Johnson entered her vehicle, traveled to the mall, exited her vehicle and purchased a fountain beverage.

The second one sounds weird here, but it wouldn’t on a police report. There are still times today when using big words is best – like technical documents, legal proceedings and academia.

Which were all of the institutions that the Normans brought with them.

We learn to read and write in school, so we’re in the habit of using big academic words. Bad idea. The shorter the word, the clearer the meaning.

All my favorite writers hate big words. (Which is probably why they’re my favorite writers). Winston Churchill said, “short words are best and the old words when short are best of all.” Notice he didn’t say “elect to use diminutive phrasing and when possible, archaic forms thereof.”

David Oglivy said that no one with a college degree should be allowed to write consumer copy. Years of formal academic training has wrecked most college grads’ writing style. I agree with this. It’s a constant struggle to use the shortest, clearest words in my writing.

So throw off the chains of your Norman conquerors and be free. Connect with the masses using Old English words!

*More info: Here’s a list of French-based words in English to get you started. Avoid them!

This is a follow-up to a previous post on retail manipulation.

My fiancée and I went on a shopping trip a few weeks ago, I got caffeine-addled and wrote down my thoughts on retail store mind control.

I wrote last week about my weird experience at the Gap. I’m convinced now that I was put into a highly-suggestible state and when I refused the suggestion my subconscious reacted negatively.

Sensory manipulation at Gap is subtle. But Abercrombie smacks you in the face with it. Here’s how they mess with your senses to get you to buy more clothes.

That Rancid Smell

The perfume inside Abercrombie is so strong you can smell it from 50 feet down the mall concourse.

JD at over at Get Rich Slowly wrote on smell in retail and linked to the New Scientist, explaining:

…Smell is thought to be the most closely linked to emotion because the brain’s olfactory bulb, which detects odours, fast-tracks signals to the limbic system, which links emotion to memories.

As anyone who’s caught a fleeting whiff of an ex’s perfume can attest: smell jogs emotional memory. When a retail store can get a “fast-track” to their customers’ emotions they use it.

In this case, you’re reminded of other times you’ve smelled that smell and the emotions you were feeling. With any luck you were inside an Abercrombie store and exposed to their feel-good visual stimulation.

People More Attractive Than You

In every Abercrombie store gorgeous models hook up with each other on oversize posters.

When you view images like this, your brain reacts just as if it were you in the picture. As Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide, puts it:

Mirror neurons allow the brain to automatically imitate the actions of somebody else. So if I see you smile, or lick an ice cream cone, or do something X-rated, then my mirror neurons light up as if I were smiling, or licking an ice cream cone, or doing something X-rated.

When you look sexy pictures your brain acts as if you were actually in the image yourself. You’d be hard pressed to find a more positive emotion!

So now you’re feeling like your fooling around with models and being reminded of other times you’ve felt like that. What’s next?

Blasting Music

The music in Abercrombie is deafening. You can barely hear what someone else is saying over the bum-bum-bum of some indie rock song. But what effect does this have on your brain?

This less-than credible source says that continuous, bumping, heartbeat-like music induces a suggestible mental state. I won’t vouch for that, but I do know that every store I’ve been plays music continuously. And many songs have a thumping iambic beat.

Music like this plays at the Gap too. And one of my most powerful memories, for no apparent reason, is standing in a conference hall at a leadership seminar in 10^th grade and feeling physically overcome when Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun” came over the loudspeakers. I’d heard the song before and felt nothing, but my reaction at that time was overwhelming.

Abercrombie music has the same tempo and they blast it. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence.

The Walls are Closing In…

They lay out the store entrance like adjoining men’s and women’s bathrooms. When you look at the store from the outside straight on you see nothing but a wall, and to enter you need to pick a side.

Once you’re in the store you’re completely enclosed. It’s impossible to see, hear, or smell the outside world.

The difference in ambiance is startling – you go from a bright, bubbly, fluorescent mall to a loud reeking cave.

The only light in the place shines on the clothes. The ceilings, walls, and shelves are all painted black. Spotlights illuminate the merchandise just like an actor on a black stage.

The store layout draws your attention to the product and there’s no escape route in sight.

Now you can look at the clothes in peace!

REMEMBER THIS

You’re standing in a completely fabricated environment designed with one goal – get you to buy clothes. When you walk in the door you’re assaulted by the perfume, bombarded by the blasting music, stared down by beautiful people and you can’t see the outside world.

Retail chains use all available methods to increase sales, and one of the most effective is triggering reactions in your brain.

Be careful!

Judging by the PC vs. Mac TV commercials lately, you would believe that two equal giants, Microsoft and Apple, are battling it out to one up the other and sell you a computer.

But, in reality, that’s not the dynamic at all. Apple owns anywhere from5.01% to 8.7% of the computer market.

8.7%! That’s nothing.

Here’s a graph to show you what I mean (adopted from the one on this page).

Huh?

Apple works real hard to make sure that you think there are two equal choices in the computer market, that they’re right in step with Microsoft. But they’re actually just a blip on the radar.

So what’s at work here? I’d argue that Apple’s marketing machine and devoted fan base create the illusion that your choice for a new computer is 50-50, when really 9 out of 10 people will buy a PC.

Here’s how they do this:
…View Full Story