The marketing copy on the side of my hair gel this morning prompted this column. The container of gel promised to leave my hair “virtually frizz-free.” If you’ve seen pictures of me on my website or on Facebook, you know I have, well, frizz issues. Maybe it’s asking too much, but can’t my hair be truly “frizz-free?” Why only virtually? Is frizz-less-ness and impossible condition to consider? What does this mean, anyway?
Our friend Dictionary.com tells us “virtually” means: for the most part; almost wholly; just about.
I get it. There may be remnants of frizz left in my hair, and the gel manufacturer wants to cover itself by claiming my hair will be “just about” frizz-free — but not completely. I didn’t think getting rid of frizz — completely — was asking too much from a hair product designed for that purpose.
Instead, I think someone in the marketing department wanted to make their product sound “more.” More important. More useful. More effective. So they tossed in a word that, in fact, makes me question how well their product actually works.
And therein lies the danger of -ly verbs. They detract (and distract) from what we really want to say. This is especially true in copywriting, but it applies to any form of writing. Think about how the words you add (or fail to delete) from your writing take away from your true meaning.
Write tight. Say what you mean. In the words of Strunk & White, “Eschew excess verbiage.”
