Don't lie to the reader

Case in point: A graphic's headline and introductory paragraph say the graphic is a list of mutual funds that require "no minimum investment." One of my rim editors pointed out that this is highly unlikely; it might be a low minimum requirement, but it's hard to imagine walking into the offices of the Steadfast Amalgamated Pleistocene Hirsute Diverse Growth Fund and plunking down a penny or a dollar or even $100 and not being told to get lost.

Then again, it's possible, which is why we put the question to an editor who would know. Instead of checking it out, however, he pretty much agreed that those examples disproved the text but insisted that readers would read it "within the bounds of reality."

Yes, there's sometimes a fine line between nitpicking and turning into Greg from the classic "Exact Words" episode of "The Brady Bunch," but I don't think this is even a close call. "No minimum" means "no minimum."

To use yet another TV reference, I'm reminded of the "Monty Python" sketch about cannibalism in the Royal Navy, in which one officer says, "And when we say there is none, we mean there is a certain amount."

Outside of obvious attempts at humor, it's not a good idea to write something that you don't intend to be taken seriously.