The Associated Press reported:

“Would you board flight 666 to HEL on Friday the 13th? Finnair passengers on AY666 to Helsinki didn’t seem bothered: Friday’s flight was almost full. Pilot Juha-Pekka Keidasto said, “It has been quite a joke among the pilots.” Friday the 13th is considered bad luck in many countries and the number 666 has negative biblical associations.”

It’s a quirky, humorous article – with a hidden writing tip

As a small business owner, chances are, you do a lot of writing. And you probably self-edit your articles, blog posts, workbooks, and so forth. When you put on your editor’s hat to chase down typos, punctuation errors and the like, also think about denotations and connotations.

A word or expression’s denotation is the explicit dictionary definition – its literal meaning. The connotation is any suggested or associated meanings.

A great example is the word witch. From “Halloween witch costume” to “Salem witch trials,” this word packs a lot of punch, with a wide variety of positive and negative connotations!

In the “Flight to HEL” article, the reporter spelled out that Friday the 13th is considered bad luck in many countries and that 666 conveys negative biblical associations. Yet this is not universally known. If this hadn’t been spelled out – and if the reader wasn’t aware of these connotations – the point (and the quirky humor) would have been lost.

When writing, be alert for words’ and expressions’ undertones, implications, or secondary meanings, especially when writing for other cultures. And especially if you’re attempting quirky humor!