It’s about clear, direct language

“It’s about” has become one of those annoying, overused phrases that replaces better word choices.

I’m not sure when it first showed up, but I hear it all the time now, most often in cases where there are better, clearer ways to express a thought.

For example, the blog post I just read about a startup in which the CEO explains why his company’s product matters: It’s about personalization and recurring discovery. Which tells you something – sort of – but makes the CEO in question sound kind of vague and a little silly. By comparison, a direct statement sounds clear and assured: Our product finds personalized, relevant content for web user by monitoring previous searches and…. whatever their product (which actually sounded quite silly to me) actually does.

I hear it on NPR, where a reporter explains corporate participation in a philanthropic venture this way: It’s about investing in the future. (Note that this is the reporter’s choice of language, not some PR apparatchik’s blather.) Is that what it’s about? How about: BigCo is participating in this project because it will need skilled, educated workers in the future.

“It’s about” isn’t incorrect, it’s just sloppy and overused. I can’t say I’ve never said it myself (although it’s not a phrase that comes naturally to me). It’s just ugly and tedious, and I would expect more care from professional writers and journalists. (Because I live in that optimistic dream world where good writing matters to people in those professions.)

I suspect “it’s about” first turned up as an odd construction used for emphasis, which is fine, until it was no longer strikingly odd – making you take notice – but simply overused.

So if you find it slipping out of your mouth or your keyboard, just stop and ask yourself: what am I really trying to say here? And say that. You will sound refreshingly direct and smart to everyone around you, because… well… you are.