Anthony Shore

Anthony Shore

@operativewords.com

I name things. https://www.operativewords.com

199 followers470 following1.8K posts

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

I recently started sketching on my iPad following prompts in r/SketchDaily. About a month ago the prompt was Saturday Morning Cartoons and this is what I drew. #CoyoteVsAcme

Every Film Now@everyfilmnow.bsky.social

Final trailer for ‘COYOTE VS. ACME’ has been released. In theaters August 28. #CoyoteVsAcme

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com
Movies Silently@moviessilently.bsky.social

This week’s #OliveArtClub prompt! Please make art based on these tomatoes. Any medium, analog or digital, all levels welcome with a special hello to absolute beginners. No AI. I took the picture, feel free to share or sell any human-made art based on it

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

I’ve always wanted to pretend I’m an architect.

Movies Silently@moviessilently.bsky.social

For this week’s #OliveArtClub, please make art based on this blue teapot. All levels welcome, special greetings to absolute beginners, all mediums, digital or traditional. No AI. I took the photo, you are free to share and sell human-made art based on it.

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com
Movies Silently@moviessilently.bsky.social

Had a lot of fun with the olive, so let’s go again! Impromptu art club prompt! Make a picture of this radish. Any media, all skill levels, digital and traditional welcome, total beginners welcome, no AI #OliveArtClub

Anthony Shore reposted

alex roberts
@lexlanham.bsky.social

ready to roll out that new protein ice cream? yeah boss, good to go! & what are we calling it again? we’re going with SMEARCASE excuse me what now? that’s right, SMEARCASE! like, smear it on your case! that…can’t be… and the product category is FROCO! I give up

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

Contrived pronunciations and spellings of brand names are annoying. Glad to have The New York Times ask me and esteemed colleagues @fritinancy.bsky.social and @lexlanham.bsky.social about them.

Nancy Friedman@fritinancy.bsky.social

"If we’re meant to hear 'watermelon water,' why are we reading WTRMLN WTR?" @samcorbin.bsky.social quotes me and @operativewords.com in her new @nytimes.com piece, "The SYRN Call of Oddly Spelled Brand Names." Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/c...

nytimes.comThe SYRN Call of Oddly Spelled Brand Names
Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

What if our alphabet is just the 2D shadow of something bigger? What about the letters in higher dimensions we can't see? Even from Flatland, our letters let us describe so much, but imagine what a language with extra-dimensional symbols could express.

Robert@jstckr.bsky.social

i just remembered last night i dreamed about decimal letters in between the alphabet that could be used to describe the world in more detail

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

Announcement just now at SeaTac airport, calling out boarding group letters with joyful alternatives to the NATO alphabet: B as in “beautiful”, D as in “delightful”. Beautiful and delightful, indeed! Thanks, Alaska Airlines gate agent, for those little bits of joy! 🤩 #naming

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

This, dear readers, is why you don’t name your company BeyondTrust. Firstly, including Trust in your name invites suspicion. If you want to be perceived as trustworthy, be trustworthy. Second, if you are “beyond trust”, you are past trust: untrusted and untrustworthy. #naming

WIRED@wired.com

Treasury says hackers accessed “certain unclassified documents” in a “major” breach, but experts believe the attack’s impacts could prove to be more significant as new details emerge.

wired.comUS Treasury Department Admits It Got Hacked by ChinaTreasury says hackers accessed “certain unclassified documents” in a “major” breach, but experts believe the attack’s impacts could prove to be more significant as new details emerge.
Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

These bang-on and bonkers color names: Stygian blue, self-luminous red, hyperbolic orange. A masterclass in descriptive #naming! 🙌🏼

Mike Sowden@mikeachim.bsky.social

But here's one we should all be able to do: a) Stare unblinkingly at box on the left for a while... b) ...shift gaze to box to its right... c) ...and see either a colour that's blacker than total black, brighter than total white or oranger than totally orange. Absolutely barmy, 'tis. 2/

Anthony Shore reposted

David Schargel
@schargel.com

As marketers, how do we create slogans that not only capture attention but also leave a lasting impression? Well...it depends...

Anthony Shore@operativewords.com

Do you want your slogan to be liked or remembered? You can only pick one. My latest blog post is about the findings of ingenious experiments, in which researchers uncovered how specific linguistic properties of slogans and taglines govern their ability to be remembered or liked. Read and enjoy!

operativewords.comThe Science Behind Great Slogans — Operative WordsWhat can you do to make your slogan or tagline more memorable or likable? New research shows you how.
Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

Do you want your slogan to be liked or remembered? You can only pick one. My latest blog post is about the findings of ingenious experiments, in which researchers uncovered how specific linguistic properties of slogans and taglines govern their ability to be remembered or liked. Read and enjoy!

operativewords.comThe Science Behind Great Slogans — Operative WordsWhat can you do to make your slogan or tagline more memorable or likable? New research shows you how.
Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

It’s like a full-body sign language. Are there actual gestural languages that make use of the full body like this? Actual question? #linguistics #signlanguage

This post is unavailable.
Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

Big congratulations to Operative Words' client, Growl, who today launched the world's-first connected boxing platform! Operative Words is super proud to have created the name Growl. Clients who make great decisions are the best clients. 🥰 #naming

TechCrunch@techcrunch.com

Growl is building the Peloton of boxing

tcrn.chGrowl is building the Peloton of boxingThere’s a new connected fitness device in town and it’s called Growl. Inspired by hardware companies like Peloton and Tonal, Growl is building a boxing bag that you can attach to your wall at home. Users can then start immersive, gamified boxing classes…
Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

I agree 💯

Shira Ovide@shiraovide.bsky.social

The OED got it wrong. "Slop" should have been the word of the year. It's the perfect term that links shrimp Jesus, 2000s-era content farms, "you won't believe what happened next..." clickbait, gross-out food hacks and basically EVERYTHING on the internet. wapo.st/4eVF32B

wapo.stSorry, Oxford dictionary nerds. This is the real word of the year.The verbal encapsulation of 2024 explains everything from “shrimp Jesus” to disgusting viral recipes and clickbait headlines.
Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

My first independent #naming project in 1990 was to name streets for a development near Monterey. I gave them three street theme options: Golf, Nature, and Spanish. They went with Nature. Anyway, please enjoy this delightful gift article about naming streets.

nytimes.comIs the Name of Your Street Practical or Whimsical? (Gift Article)“You want the street name to be something people would be proud to live on,” says one developer. But no bad vibes, please.

Anthony Shore reposted

Lisa Davidson
@lisabdavidson.bsky.social

Ooh, I learned a word today (albeit one which has been around since at least the mid-2000s). Despite the meaning of 'narcotecture', on a phonetic level, this blend just really works.

Jane Coaston@janecoaston.bsky.social

The movable wall is so much narcotecture

Anthony Shore
@operativewords.com

I recently named a women’s health app, Ourself. At the time I thought I invented the word myself, having forgotten I heard it first in the 1979 movie The Warriors. Thanks for the deep history of “ourself”, Stan! www.ourself.health

ourself.healthHomeOurself is for all women, at any life stage, to optimize their health and well-being. Get insights into your own body and empower wellness for women everywhere.
Stan Carey@stancarey.bsky.social

Fun facts about the word "ourself": —It's older than "ourselves" —It can be singular or plural —It has multiple grammatical roles —All good dictionaries still list it —Shakespeare used it *dozens* of times —You can use it too, if you want stancarey.wordpress.com/2022/03/25/w... #linguistics

stancarey.wordpress.comWe ourself can use this pronounOn a recent rewatch of the 1979 film The Warriors, I noticed an unusual pronoun spoken by Cleon, played by Dorsey Wright:* Ourself, once in regular use, is now scarce outside of certain dialects, a…