Sounds Good on Paper: How to Bring Business Language to Life

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Bloomsbury Publishing, May 1, 2010 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 192 pages

Figures of speech are everywhere. Popstar or postman, president or paperboy, the chances are you've already used a whole heap of them today without realising it.


For business writers they're pure gold. They make our words more powerful, persuasive and poetic. They add flavour to dreary standard issue language. They help us get our message across in a way that's immediate and memorable. This book takes fifty of our finest figures and explains how they can help anyone who works with words, regardless of profession, to express themselves with more style and impact.


Sounds Good on Paper is essential reading for anyone who writes as part of their job. It's a practical guide to every figure of speech you never knew you knew, including the chiasmus ("You can take the boy out of Essex, but you can't take Essex out of the boy"), tmesis ("abso-blooming-lutley") and kenning ("pencil pusher" or "coffin dodger"). It shows how you can use figures to make your words work harder and pump up your powers of persuasion. If you want to inspire and engage your readers, this book is here to help.

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About the author (2010)

Roger Horberry is a freelance copywriter working for various London design, branding and advertising agencies. He is the author of Brilliant Copywriting (Pearson, July 2009).

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