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  • 17(ish)-OCT-2024 | The Oxford English Dictionary’s “Krazy” Ad

17(ish)-OCT-2024 | The Oxford English Dictionary’s “Krazy” Ad

Author

Dan Bogachek
October 18, 2024

The Oxford English Dictionary’s “Krazy” Ad

Has the world gone krazy?

We think so. Why you ask? Well you see this fine language we call English is composed of letters — 26 to be exact. Each letter specifically crafted, each with its own job to do. Some letters play larger roles than others, and that’s just how it is. Unfortunately, there are people out there (Hollywood?) with no regard for the alphabet, let alone the natural order of things. And we believe it was these people who propagated the intentional switching of the letter S for the letter Z. All of a sudden, words like ‘kids’ were being spelled ‘kidz.’ We asked ourselves what purpose could these abominations possibly serve? Aesthetic? Marketability? Street cred? And as we questioned this, it happened again and again. Cool became ‘kewl.’ Thanks became ‘thnx.’ And we became angry. We realized that a dictionary has just as much a duty to the letters that make up the words in its pages as the words themselves. That’s why you’ll never find any instance of inappropriate letter usage in our pages.

The Oxford English Dictionary
Remember English?

🏁

  • This whole piece revolves around their big why. And their big why points to what? Credibility and trustworthiness. Detecting a why is simple. Whenever you see a brand say “we,” there’s a good chance “why” is also nearby.

  • Another reminder that we do actually have permission to ask questions in our copy — and not just in the hook.

  • Repetition for setup. “Cool became ‘kewl.’ Thanks became ‘thx.’ And we became angry.” The structure itself is emoting, “enough is enough.”

  • Even an institution as sophisticated as The Oxford English Dictionary is writing at a 5th grade level (a la Hemingway App). And they even use a fragment sentence… 😱🥗💭

You glance at your watch.

It’s 6:28. You’ve been at it since 3.
Crap. Your hot date is at 7. Running late. Sink shower it is.
Nowhere close to done editing…

“…at least all the ideas are laid out, so there’s that. Did I miss anything? I don’t think so? Ok, but how do I make it flow? I need to get the final draft to Stacey for design asap, team cutoff is at noon Thursday…”

You’ve spent dinner completely distracted. Your date just took off. You go home exhausted, plod to your desk, and crack open the laptop.

Or… it could go like this:

5:41 — you’re out of the shower and lip-syncing.
6:17 — dressed to the nines and zenned out.
7:03 — the sunset glints off your aviators as you smile hello.
8:36 — it actually feels like you’re hitting it off. Not just hot, funny to boot.
Next morning, 10:27 — polished draft ready in your inbox.
10:31 — Stacey messages back, “thanks, looks good!”

The difference?

You had Copygloss handle it yesterday afternoon.

For help with editing, email Dan:
[email protected].