Tuesday, June 3, 2008

"Foreword" and "Forward"

Levels of Distractibility: Who cares? = *. Some people will be distracted from your meaning: = **. Many people will be distracted from your meaning: = ***.

Question: I've heard of the word "forward," i.e., "Move forward, not backward." What is a "foreword"?

Answer: You don't read many books. Most nonfiction books come with a "Foreword," a brief introduction that usually summarizes the main ideas of the book in very clear, concise language. Will give you a pretty good understanding of the ideas you will find in the book. Note the "Fore," "before," and "word" in "Fore"-"word."


Rating of Distractibility: ***. People usually misspell "Foreword," "Forward." That's a blatant mistake. I'm always amazed to find publishers who misspell "Foreword" in the published book. Incredible.

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