Chiodo, dont’ be a know-all!

So I am browsing LinkedIn (LinkedIn is the new Facebook) and I stumble on this.

It’s basically somebody (over-)praising and asking for a standing ovation for Valentina Falcinelli, a superb Italian copywriter, one of the best as far as I know. What Valentina writes about in her book is: when writing, do not use English words only because it looks cool, if you have options in Italian.

I don’t want to discuss the topic per se, there’d be much to say about it and I will someday. For instance, one might argue that if “bla bla bla” is OK, then “bug” is OK as well isn’t it? (in Italian we use the English word bug when it’s IT-related) It’s contextual!

But that’s not the point.

Point is, I found it instructive for myself, because my first instinct when I saw this was: well duh, who the hell needs Valentina Falcinelli to tell them something so obvious in 2018, it’s writing 101, it’s stupid! It’s stupid to be in awe when reading it, so it’s stupid to write about it, especially when your are a well-known pro in the field.

Then I realised I was thinking like a total jerk. It is always OK not to know stuff, because knowledge is infinite and alas our time on Earth is not. It is actually stupid not to ask. So if someone needs to know, it also takes someone to explain. This is something I’ll have to keep in mind, so thanks Valentina for reminding me.

Soundtrack: Gleb Kolyadin by Gleb Kolyadin