Am I the only one who gets bugged about the misuse—and misunderstanding—of the term "average"? One recent instance, for example, is the much-touted statistic regarding flu outbreaks—that every year, an average of 36,000 people die from the flu.False!Every year, the number of people who die is nothing more nor less than the number who die. The average of 36,000 is based on whatever number of years...

What were they thinking? Or were they thinking? Bad enough doing the photo op in lower Manhattan. But to do it without informing the public! And from what I've read, it was a deliberate decision not to inform the public.It's easy to take potshots when things like this happen. But things like this happen all the time, especially in the workplace. Have you ever had a situation where someone...

Is there a word for a prediction you wish you could make, but are thus far reluctant to? The prediction I would like to be able to make is that Twitter will inspire people to write shorter email messages. Too many people write email messages that are way too long. (I include myself here.)