The practice of practising
Bri Williams
I think a lot about how a message will not only land with an audience, but how it will be recalled and acted on.
Language rules are some of my favourites.
For example, I still use the alphabet song to remember the order of certain letters.
And I still use the โi before eโ rule, despite knowing it is deeply flawed.
My weird neighbour tried to seize my beige heifer, after all.
So I decided I needed a rule to help me remember when to use practise rather than practice.
One strategy would have been to move to the US and forget all about practise. Simple.
But instead, hereโs what I now use.
Iโve never had trouble remembering when to use advice (noun) and advise (verb), because they sound different.
But Iโve always struggled with practice (noun) versus practise (verb), because they sound the same.
So, using advise/advice as my anchor, hereโs my mnemonic:
โI advise you to practise.
Developing a practice is great advice.โ
Let me know if you have had the same trouble and the language rules you rely on.
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