Not say I want to say: “value-added”

Fri, 4 Jan 2013
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Welcome to the second edition of “Not Say I Want To Say”!

Today’s “Not Say I Want To Say” word is “value-added”.

Example from a news report:

…what is important is for us to go towards a fair and reasonable payment regardless of their nationality and depend more on their skills, productivity and their value-add to the industry, and the business.

 

From “NTUC chief addresses migrant worker issues”, my emphasis.

How has “value-added” been misused here?
The speaker’s intent is to describe “the amount by which the value of [each migrant worker] is increased at each stage…exclusive of [other] cost[s]” (OED) such as their wages or the externalities which Singapore society has to bear when bringing migrant workers into the country.

However, “value-added” is a compound word more commonly used as an adjective e.g. “value-added services”.

The speaker seems to have inferred that “value-added” can be shortened to “value-add”, which is confusing for the reader: is the speaker using the compound word as a verb or a noun?

How do we use “value-added” correctly?
Ask yourself: is a compound word necessary for the purpose I intend?

E.g.

When the focus is on the value of the goods or services:

 
When you want to describe the goods or services:

 
Efficiency of non-standard use: No change – “value-add” and “add value” have the same number of syllables and characters.

Potential for adoption: DO NOT adopt – there is no added value to the word “value-add”.

Have a good weekend and see you back here on Monday!

Stuff you must read today (Thu, 3 Jan 2013)

Thu, 3 Jan 2013
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  • How To Build An Antifragile Career | Fast Company
    “‘Never go for medium profession… Literary writers should have a menial job or (if possible) a sinecure, and write on the side. Otherwise writing for a living under other people’s standards debases their literature. The same for artists. The best philosophers were not academics, but had another job, so their philosophy was not corrupted by careerism'”.

  • Bloodless Mary | Luxirare
    Found this recipe when I was searching for stuff to do with vodka and lemons and I was absolutely blown away by the effort and presentation of this drink.

  • The Four Kinds of NYT Headlines | Alex Leo
    Spot on!

  • If They’re Voting For Mitt Romney, Don’t Have Sex With Them | Thought Catalog
    “Sometimes opposites attracting can be sexy, and you’re turned on by the fact that they love dubstep, which you don’t think is music; go rollerblading unironically; or are one of those people who still thinks that Crash deserved to win Best Picture. (Unheard of, I know.) … However, this is election season, and things are different if their “little quirk” is a Romney/Ryan bumper sticker. You need to stop paying attention to dat ass for a moment and pay attention to dat electoral map”.

  • You Only Reboot Twice | The Bygone Bureau
    SPOILER ALERT!

    “After a quick, hushed introduction (they are spies after all), Bond questions the competency of his young tech and weapons expert. Q says, ‘Age is no guarantee of efficiency’; Bond retorts that ‘youth is no guarantee of innovation.’ This is the film’s central conflict: new vs. old, technology against tradition — a fitting theme for a sequel in a rebooted series”.

Bad bosses and employment

Wed, 2 Jan 2013
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Last week, on Christmas eve, I posted this status on Facebook:

Do you know how terrible my boss is? In addition to making me work today, he’s not even giving me a half-day off. What a bastard! I hate him! Merry Christmas, everyone!

A not insignificant number people misunderstood this as me bitching immaturely about my boss.

OK people – let’s set this straight: I AM SELF-EMPLOYED; it was a tongue-in-cheek statement that I made for fun.

So don’t take yourselves too seriously, my friends – you’re not important enough for that!

Jokes aside, I want to make a public-service announcement (PSA): the next time you want to contact me for work-related purposes, please go through my agent.

I’m serious about this.

Why?

Two reasons:

  1. In recent months, I’ve come to believe in the paramount importance of an editor for ANYTHING that needs to be done.
  2. [Redacted – ask me in private.]

Hence, I’m appointing Ms Lynn Lee as my agent for any work-related matters.

Please contact her if you have work for me. Similarly, contact her if you have interview questions/media-related enquiries because she is Ms ‘Pau Ka Liau’.

More contact information here at my newly created Contact page.