Differentiating “Barbarous” and “Barbaric”

It’s wonderful to know I’m not alone in helping writers improve their craft and taking that extra step in making correct word choices.

In particular, I appreciate the unyielding effort of Maeve Maddox, whose Daily Writing Tips faithfully shows up in my inbox every day. She digs into the background and contemporary use of English-language verbiage with gusto.

Here’s what Maeve wrote to distinguish barbarous and barbaric, included here with her permission.

Both words derive from a Greek word meaning “foreign.” The original word was coined as a nonsense word to indicate the sound of a language other than Greek. For the ancient Greeks, the only civilized language was Greek. Anything else was gibberish.

At first a “barbarian” was simply a non-Greek, a foreigner. After the Persian wars, the word took on a pejorative sense. A barbarian was not just foreign; he was uncivilized and brutal.

As far as the Greeks were concerned, the Romans were barbarians, but the Romans adopted the word to refer to any nation outside the sphere of Greek or Roman civilization.

Both barbaric and barbarous were in English by the 16th century. Barbaric was used with the meaning “foreign, strange, outlandish,” Barbarous first meant what the Romans meant by it, “not Greek or Latin,” but it soon came to mean “uncultured, savage,” and by the 1580s had taken on the sense of “savagely cruel.”

In modern usage barbarous and barbaric are used interchangeably to mean “uncivilized.” (Click here for examples and Maddox’s complete post.)

The conclusion? Use barbaric to denote uncivilized behavior with violence ; use barbarous for matters of language and manners.

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Judy Cullins’s Big Three Marketing Machine

by Judy Cullins (reprinted with permission)

Would you just love to have a 24/7 sales team automatically working to brand you as the go to person in your field so you don’t have to even leave your office? Would you like to see how your eBook, special report, and articles make up part of what I call “The Big Three Marketing Machine”? Open your mind to discover the great power of these now.

One. The Short eBook

I believe in quality, so put some effort into your book to build your reputation and credibility to be the expert in your field.

Your ebook can be anywhere from 20-100 pages of a similar topic as your article and special report. It has sections or chapters. Each nonfiction book chapter will have a title and sub-title reflecting the particular problem you will solve. For each chapter, you will use the “Fast-Forward Writing Technique” ( Ch 2 or my writing book) that is a blueprint for creating an engaging chapter with just one edit.

Don’t undercharge for your eBook. Many Online buyers are willing to pay a lot for specific skills. Charge $14.95-$79.00, even more, depending on what you think your audience will pay. If they need it, or think they must have it because of an emotional need, you will sell your books at any price. eCourses can sell for even $100 or $400.

Don’t worry about stealing. You won’t lose anything. Think of your electronic pieces as library books, borrowed by some, bought by many. At the end of each book, list all of your other reports, books or services with a live URL to click. Include even your ezine link to subscribe. When shared online, the battalions of web users–your mighty 24/7 sales force—will read your words and pass them on, keeping your information in the buzz and making you famous. If not famous, at least financially well off. Smile.

If you have a print book, it can also be part of this powerful team.You can build an eBook from articles or you can create articles from your eBook.

Two. The Special Report

Expand your article with stories, examples, and resources to create your new Special Report. Create 4-20 pages of specific information your audience wants. Charge $6.95-$10.95 or more for this report. Upload your sales message and product link to as a landing page on your site. Be willing to give this away as a special bonus for some of your more expensive products or services.

Today, in the year a low economy, we repackaged a lot of different products. We called them “Recession Specials” that included teleseminar transcripts, MP3 audios of teleseminars, and parts from longer books updated as Special Reports. We priced them low at $6.95 and the sales have been amazing. At the end of each of these, we put opportunities to buy my other related products or services (the upsell).

Three. The Article

The article is the key to branding you and getting that targeted free traffic to your website. Make sure you submit 1-2 a week consistently. This shows you as the trusted mentor, the “go to” person, the expert in your field. It attracts your audience to you because they know you know something they want or need. Attraction marketing works.

When your audience sees your articles, they know you are the savvy expert; they start to trust you because of the volume of quality articles you submit; and they visit your site and start to buy products from it.

That’s the great power of the BIG THREE Marketing Machine!

Get ongoing help with monthly newsletter and free 20 page eBook, “20 High Octane Book Writing and Marketing Tips” at http://www.bookcoaching.com/help-writing-a-book.php

 

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