Decor? Decorum? There IS a Difference.

A friend in Winston-Salem sent me a clipping last week from Richard Creed's column in the local newspaper there. Creed is a retired Winston-Salem Journal editor and writes about grammar and usage. http://www,richcreed@triad.rr.com

One of Creed's readers had seen this statement about cell phone intrusiveness in USA Today: "Aside from the noisy interruption of musical ring tones, the technology poses new challenges for judges, who must maintain courtroom decor and consider other legal issues in a world where Facebook, Twitter and cameras are now at the fingertips of many cell phone users."

Whoops! Creed's reader spotted the incorrect use of DECOR (a decorative treatment) where DECORUM (proper behavior) should have been used. The reader said, "I pictured a judge frantically comparing paint swatches and fabric samples while attempting to render judgments over a cacophony of cell phone chimes."

The sentence should have read as follows:

"Aside from the noisy interruption of musical ring tones, the technology poses new challenges for judges, who must maintain courtroom decorum and consider other legal issues in a world where Facebook, Twitter and cameras are now at the fingertips of many cell phone users."

Be careful with your choice of words so that people remember your MESSAGE, not your poor choice of words.