Kirk Mahoney . com

I learned about this name years ago, and it came to mind again recently.

Dr. Peeks is an optometrist.

The verb “peek” — spelled P-E-E-K — dates back to the mid-1300s and means to glance or look quickly.

The irony is not lost on me that an optometrist — a licensed professional who practices the profession of examining eyes and helping people with their vision — has a surname that refers to looking.

I do not believe that it is a coincidence that someone with the surname “Peeks” is involved with vision.

Names mean things.

I noticed this yesterday.

I was searching for stories about AT&T in the news portion of Google when I saw “AT&T Taps Charlene Lake As Chief Sustainability Officer” as the top headline.

Clicking the headline led me to an EnvironmentalLeader.com Web page.

I had never heard of a “Chief Sustainability Officer” until I read that page, but apparently the role relates to the environmental impact of AT&T.

Then I re-read the name of the appointed officer, and I had to smile.

I do not believe that it is a coincidence that someone with the surname “Lake” is involved in environmental issues.

Names mean things.

I heard about this expression last Saturday at a party.

Problem:
The second word is incorrect.

Explanation:
My friend Nickie F. sent me more information about this expression.

She said that a co-worker was discussing possible scenarios to resolve an ongoing HR issue when the co-worker said, “If worst comes to shove, then that is what we’ll have to do.”

The second word, as many readers will recognize, should be “push” instead.

The expression “If push comes to shove”, according to Answers.com, “comes from rugby, where, after an infraction of rules, forwards from each team face off and push against one another until one player can kick the ball to a teammate and resume the game.”

And its figurative use — that is, its use outside of rugby — dates back to the 1950s.

For fun, I searched Google for each of the following (with the quotation marks, to avoid variations) and got about the indicated numbers of matches:

• “If push comes to shove” — 155,000 matches
• “If worst comes to shove” — 344 matches

This tells me that Web authors have used the correct expression versus the incorrect expression by a ratio of 451-to-1, which is excellent.

Solution:
“If push comes to shove, …”

I noticed this a week ago.

I was stepping through television channels, looking for something good to watch, when I saw what clearly was a religious TV program.

A woman was speaking directly into the camera, and “Pastor Preasha Hilliard” appeared as part of the banner at the bottom of the TV screen.

I do not know whether Pastor Hilliard was given that name as a child or she chose that name later in life.

But you have to admit that Preasha sounds a lot like “preacher”.

I do not believe that it is a coincidence that Preasha is involved with preaching.

Names mean things.

I saw this in a corporate announcement.

Problem:
The writer mixed metaphors.

Explanation:
The full sentence was “If we all row in the same directions, we will ultimately climb the mountains and be successful.”

Beyond this conditional sentence’s use of the plural “directions” where the singular “direction” was required (as discussed in yesterday’s post), there is a problem with the “If” clause matching the implied-”then” clause.

Given the target audience, I doubt that the writer was referring to some sort of extreme adventure such as uphill kayaking.

So it makes no sense to the average reader to climb a mountain by rowing.

The solution comes from making a water-related reference (e.g., to a lake) in the implied-”then” clause.

Solution:
“If we all row … we will cross the lake …”

I bought an excellent book on time management a few weeks ago.

Titled Time Management on Crack, it is aimed at anyone who has an Internet-based business, including bloggers like me … and many of my blog readers, I suspect.

The book is by a twenty-something author who is wise beyond his years.

His techniques have helped him be much more productive than most of his peers.

For example, he wrote, “I launched 52 internet marketing and programming products last year while also working a full-time day job. I have no employees.”

The author teaches that part of his technique requires a change of attitude or mind state toward time and tasks.

For example, he wrote, “I’ve used this mind state to write 25 articles in one plane ride, record 12 twenty-minute interviews in one morning, and record 50 five-minute videos in one day!”

The book comes with a money-back guarantee.

Given that it is priced higher than most bookstore books, I expected that I might have to use the guarantee.

But after I read the book and watched his accompanying videos, I was sure that his book was worth more than I paid for it.

To learn more about the book, go here.

Highly recommended!

My wife noticed this one.

She saw in a gardening newsletter an announcement about a plant physiologist giving a presentation.

The presentation? It was about mulch.

The presenter? It was a Ph.D. with the surname Funk.

I do not believe that it is a coincidence that Dr. Funk has been involved with mulch.

Names mean things.

“Better Communication for Smart People” is the theme of this website.

And I devote most of my blog posts to the English language.

But there is more to communication than human languages.

One avenue for better communication that we have on the Internet is the use of a photo-sharing site.

I have gotten accounts at several photo-sharing sites over the years, and each site offers certain advantages.

My latest account is at PhotoPeach.com, which offers two distinguishing features:

1. It simplifies the addition of music to a slideshow.
2. It provides a “swirlable” view of a sequence of photos.

Although PhotoPeach is not perfect — no photo-sharing site is, in my opinion — I found it nearly perfect for quickly assembling a slideshow about the Amazon Kindle 2 at my Kindle2Tricks.com website.

And PhotoPeach liked my slideshow so much that they gave me an award!

It truly was very simple to create the slideshow with the music and the titles.

If you are looking for a slideshow-centric photo-sharing site, then I recommend PhotoPeach.com as one to consider.

I was on a conference call yesterday in which a woman was reporting the results of a survey.

She said something to the effect that 78.23% of those surveyed had chosen “X”.

The four-digit percentage struck me as overkill.

There are two problems with reporting a percentage such as “78.23%” on a telephone call, in a podcast, or on the radio.

1. Numbers generally are difficult to follow when the audience can only listen to the numbers (and cannot see the numbers, too).
2. Higher-precision numbers are more difficult to follow than are lower-precision numbers.

Sure, higher-precision numbers (such as “78.23%”) sound more authoritative than do lower-precision numbers (such as “78%”).

But better communication often means simpler communication.

So take a load off your listeners when you next give an oral report: Report percentages as one- or two-digit numbers instead as three- or four-digit numbers.

Some blog readers find comments distracting.

Other blog readers find comments essential.

What you think?

Please go here to answer this question.

Once I get enough votes and a clear choice from you, my readers, I will let everyone know.

Thanks!