Copy & Content

Busted

• Active voiceSentence shape where the subject does the acting: 'We deleted your file', not 'Your file was deleted'.
• AI slopGeneric, padded machine-made content published without enough judgment, fact checking, or editing to make it useful.
• AIDAThe classic copy sequence: grab attention, hold interest, build desire, ask for the action. The best-known sales-page checklist.
• AngleThe specific framing that turns a broad topic into something this audience has a reason to care about now.
• Before-After-Bridge (BAB)A copy formula that shows today's pain, pictures a better future, then explains how the product gets the reader between them.
• BlurbA short promotional summary that gives someone enough reason to open, buy, watch, or read the thing.
• Body copyThe paragraphs under the headline that do the actual explaining, convincing, and detail-supplying once attention is won.
• BoilerplateA fixed block of text reused word for word: the 'About us' paragraph, the email footer, the standard legal line.
• Bucket brigadeA short transition such as 'Here's the catch' that creates just enough suspense to pull a reader into the next paragraph.
• Content atomizationBreaking one large piece into small, labeled fragments that can stand alone and be found, reused, or recombined later.
• Content auditA page-by-page inventory that judges whether existing content is accurate, useful, current, owned, and worth keeping.
• Content briefThe spec sheet a writer or an AI gets before drafting: reader, angle, key message, outline, constraints, and what 'done' looks like.
• Content designDeciding what content should exist, in what format and what order, before anyone argues about wording. Structure first, sentences second.
• Content lifecycleThe stages content passes through from idea and production to publishing, upkeep, and retirement, with an owner at every handoff.
• Content modelThe blueprint of your content types and their fields, so a 'recipe' or 'case study' is real structure instead of one blob of rich text.
• Content opsThe roles, workflow, tools, and rules that keep content moving from request through review, publication, maintenance, and retirement.
• Content pillarA big recurring theme every piece of content hangs off, so posts ladder up to a few topics instead of scattering.
• Content repurposingRebuilding the useful idea from one piece of content for another format, audience, or channel instead of merely reposting it.
• Content strategyThe plan for what content you make, who it's for, why it exists, and who keeps it alive after publishing.
• Controlled vocabularyAn authorized term list that maps every variant onto one preferred label, so the same thing is not 'folder' here and 'directory' there.
• Copy deckOne shared document listing every interface string, keyed to its screen, state, component, and slot.
• CopyeditingThe cleanup pass: grammar, punctuation, clarity, and consistency fixed without changing the author's argument or voice.
• Curiosity gapShowing just enough to make the missing piece unbearable, so the click feels like scratching an itch.
• Dek (standfirst)The supporting sentence under a headline that adds the context, detail, or payoff the big line leaves out.
• DiátaxisA documentation framework that separates learning, tasks, facts, and understanding into tutorial, how-to, reference, and explanation.
• Editorial calendarThe shared schedule showing what content publishes, on which channel, on what date, and who owns each step before it goes live.
• Editorial style guide (house style)Your team's written-down rulings on spelling, capitalization, numbers, and product terms, so five writers sound like one.
• Evergreen vs. timelyEvergreen content stays useful over time; timely content gets its value from a specific event, season, launch, or news cycle.
• Eyebrow (overline)The tiny label above a headline that names the category, audience, or context before the main promise lands.
• Fact-checkingChecking every name, date, number, claim, quote, and citation against evidence before the piece goes out.
• Features vs. benefitsA feature is what it has; a benefit is what changes for the reader. '256-bit encryption' versus 'helps keep your notes private'.
• Flesch-Kincaid Grade LevelA number estimating the US school grade needed to read a passage, based on sentence length and syllables per word.
• GhostwritingWriting speeches, posts, books, or articles that are published under another person's name and made to sound like them.
• HeadlineThe big line at the top whose only job is making the next line worth reading: the promise, stated so a stranger cares.
• Helper text vs. placeholderHelper text sits under a field and stays; placeholder sits inside and vanishes when you type. Instructions belong in helper text.
• HookThe opening line whose only job is to earn the second line. The scroll-stopper you write before you have any attention.
• Inverted pyramidConclusion first, detail descending after, so a reader can quit at any point and still walk away with the point.
• Key messageThe one idea the audience should understand and remember, even after every supporting detail has faded.
• Lede / burying the ledeThe lede is the opening that carries the point. Burying it means the good part is three paragraphs down where nobody reaches it.
• Line editingThe sentence-by-sentence pass that sharpens clarity, rhythm, voice, word choice, and concision without rebuilding the argument.
• ListicleAn article organized as numbered items so readers can scan, compare, and jump straight to the parts they care about.
• Messaging hierarchyThe ranked order of what you say: one core message, a few supporting claims, then proof. What lands when someone reads only the top.
• MicrocopyThe tiny functional words inside an interface: button labels, error messages, tooltips, empty states, the hint under the field.
• Nominalization (zombie nouns)A verb turned into a noun, like 'decide' becoming 'decision', often hiding the actor and draining motion from a sentence.
• Nut grafThe paragraph after a scene-setting opening that explains what the larger story is, why it matters, and why it matters now.
• Objection handling copyCopy that answers the doubt at the exact spot it fires, so nobody has to leave the page to resolve it.
• ParallelismGiving neighboring phrases the same grammatical shape so a list, sentence, or slogan feels balanced and easier to follow.
• PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solution)A copy formula: name the problem, make its real consequences felt, then present the solution that resolves it.
• Plain languageWriting an ordinary, distracted reader gets on the first pass: short words, short sentences, the point up front, no corporate fog.
• Preheader textThe short inbox preview shown after an email subject line, used to add context before the recipient opens the message.
• ProofreadingThe last check after editing and layout, catching typos, broken references, bad line breaks, and other surface errors before release.
• Release notesThe user-facing summary of what a version added, changed, fixed, removed, and now requires people to do.
• ROT analysisA cleanup pass that flags content as redundant, outdated, or trivial so it can be fixed, merged, redirected, archived, or removed.
• Rule of threeA three-part phrase or list that builds through two beats and lands on the third, making the line feel complete and memorable.
• Sentence case vs. title caseTwo ways to capitalize a heading: sentence case caps the first word plus proper nouns, title case caps most of the words.
• Single-sourcingKeeping one canonical content block and publishing it into many places so copies do not drift apart.
• Slippery slideCopy shaped so each sentence makes the next easier to read than stopping, creating line-by-line momentum down the page.
• SME interviewA structured interview that pulls facts, decisions, examples, and hidden steps from the specialist who knows the subject.
• Subject lineThe email version of a headline, scanned beside the sender name before someone decides whether the message is worth opening.
• Swipe fileA tagged collection of strong copy examples kept for inspiration, so you can borrow the structure without copying the words.
• UX writingWriting the words inside a product so people can finish the task. The wording is part of the design, not decoration added at the end.
• Voice and toneVoice is the personality that stays steady. Tone is how it shifts by situation: same person, different room.
• Voice-of-customer (VoC) miningHarvesting the exact words customers already use, from reviews, tickets, and calls, then writing in their words instead of yours.
• Weasel words / hedgingVague qualifiers like 'may help' or 'studies show' that let a claim dodge commitment and leave the sentence saying nothing.

The territory

28 core terms mapped for this field, ranked by how often builders reach for them. Each one is a future entry. Want to bust one? One entry, one file, one pull request.

• microcopythe tiny functional words on buttons, errors, tooltips, empty states"the little words in the UI" · "button text and error wording"
• UX writingwriting interface words so people can finish their task"who writes the words inside the app" · "wording as design"
• content designshaping structure, format, and words around a user need"deciding what content should even exist" · "more than just the wording"
• headlineprimary line expressing the promise and earning attention"the big line at the top" · "the title that hooks people"
• body copysupporting text that explains, persuades, and supplies necessary detail"the main paragraphs" · "the actual writing under the headline"
• voice and tonefixed personality plus situational register that shifts by context"how the brand should sound" · "friendly but not cutesy rules"
• plain languageshortest, most ordinary wording that a hurried reader survives"write it like a human" · "no corporate speak"
• active voiceconstruction where the subject performs the action directly"say who did what" · "stop writing was done by"
• features vs. benefitswhat it does versus what it does for the reader"so what does that mean for me" · "stop listing specs"
• hookthe first line whose only job is earning the second"the opener that grabs you" · "the scroll-stopper sentence"
• helper text vs. placeholderpersistent guidance under a field versus disappearing in-field hint"the grey text inside the box" · "where do I put the instructions"
• messaging hierarchyordered priority of core message, supporting claims, and proof"what to say first" · "which points matter most"
• content strategyplan aligning audience needs, business goals, creation, and maintenance"what content to make and why" · "the plan behind our content"
• editorial style guide (house style)rules for spelling, capitalization, terms, numbers, punctuation"our own rules for writing" · "do we say sign-in or login"
• copyeditingimproving correctness, clarity, consistency, and adherence to house style"cleaning up the writing" · "fixing grammar and consistency"
• weasel words / hedgingvague qualifiers that dodge commitment and dilute claims"why does this sound so wishy-washy" · "stop saying may help"
• AIDAattention, interest, desire, action: classic persuasion sequence"the funnel-shaped copy formula" · "grab, interest, want, buy"
• curiosity gapwithholding just enough to make the next click inevitable"makes you need to know" · "tease without lying"
• objection handling copytext that answers the doubt right where it arises"addressing the but-what-about" · "FAQ that unsticks buyers"
• inverted pyramidmost important information first, detail descending after"front-load the important stuff" · "newspaper-style ordering"
• lede / burying the ledeopening that carries the point; failing to lead with it"the main point is hidden at the bottom" · "start with the actual news"
• content briefspec sheet telling a writer or AI what to produce"the instructions before writing" · "outline plus rules for the piece"
• content modelthe content types and fields a system stores and reuses"what fields does a blog post have" · "the shape of my content"
• voice-of-customer (VoC) miningharvesting real customer phrasing from reviews, tickets, calls"steal words from actual customers" · "copy mined from reviews"
• controlled vocabularyapproved term list so one concept keeps one name"pick one word and stick to it" · "our official list of terms"
• sentence case vs. title casecapitalize like a sentence, or capitalize major words"should headings have capital letters" · "Title Style Or Not"
• boilerplatereusable fixed block, like the standard about-us paragraph"the same paragraph we paste everywhere" · "the standard blurb"
• content pillara big theme all smaller pieces hang off"the main topics we talk about" · "buckets for content ideas"

Deeper in the field

• copy deck one doc listing every string, keyed to its slot
• key message single idea the reader should understand and remember
• angle distinct framing that makes a topic relevant to its audience
• line editing improving sentence-level clarity, rhythm, voice, and concision
• proofreading final check for surface errors after editing and layout
• fact-checking verifying names, numbers, claims, quotations, and source accuracy
• PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solution) name the pain, twist it, then present the fix
• Before-After-Bridge (BAB) show current pain, better future, product as the bridge
• nut graf the paragraph that says why this story matters now
• dek (standfirst) the supporting sentence sitting under the headline
• eyebrow (overline) tiny label line above a headline, also called kicker
• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level numeric score for reading difficulty of a passage
• Diátaxis four doc modes: tutorial, how-to, reference, explanation
• swipe file curated collection of copy examples to borrow structure from
• bucket brigade short connective phrases that pull readers down the page
• nominalization (zombie nouns) verbs turned into nouns, draining sentences of motion
• slippery slide each sentence engineered so stopping feels harder than continuing
• parallelism matched grammatical structures that give writing rhythm
• rule of three three-part construction that lands harder than two or four
• editorial calendar dated plan of what publishes where and when
• content lifecycle stages from planning and creation through maintenance and retirement
• content audit inventory of existing pages judged for quality and fit
• ROT analysis flagging redundant, outdated, trivial content for cutting
• content repurposing reshaping one piece for a different channel or format
• content atomization breaking one big piece into many smaller fragments
• evergreen vs. timely content that ages well versus content pegged to a moment
• listicle numbered-item article format optimized for skimming and sharing
• blurb short promotional summary of a product, book, or piece
• release notes user-facing summary of what changed in a version
• ghostwriting writing published under someone else's name and voice
• SME interview extracting expert knowledge from a specialist to write from
• preheader text preview snippet shown after an email subject line
• subject line the email's headline; single biggest driver of opens
• single-sourcing write once, publish the same block into many outputs
• content ops the workflow, roles, and tooling that keep content shipping
• AI slop generic machine-sounding filler prose readers now instantly clock