Weener or Winer?

Congressman Anthony Weiner has chosen to pronounce his name "Wee-ner." However, he might have saved himself a bit of ribbing throughout his life if he had pronounced it as it should be: "Winer." In German, you always pronounce the second letter in an ei/ie combination.

The name Weiner means "one who makes wine," while the name Wiener means "one who is from Vienna" (spelled Wien in German). Americans have adopted the word "wiener" for sausages that originated in Vienna -- and for the subject of Mr. Weiner's Twitter photos.

Sure, Rep. Weiner would still endure plenty of ridicule in light of the current scandal. But the pundits would have had to work a bit harder.

Wisdom from "Rework"

From the authors of the bestselling business book, "Rework," comes this advice:

The less you understand about programming, the more you’re going to rely on this person to translate what’s going on to you. That’s why hiring great writers, regardless of the position, is a good idea.

Obviously, this is directed toward those who are hiring programmers. But at a time when most business communication is written, the ability to communicate well in writing is critical to nearly every position.