Attention, Shoppers!

This word has exploded in use in recent years, as companies and individuals talk endlessly about their brand. What's a brand? Well, if you're on a ranch, a brand is a mark on cattle. If you're in the marketplace, your brand is also a mark — it's the name of your company, along with people's opinions of it. If people associate good things (like quality and honesty) with your brand, it's good for business.

A budget is the money allotted to do something, whether for one person, a department of a company, a school, or an entire country. Any person or thing that spends money has a budget. A family has a budget that must account for food, clothing, housing, schooling, and emergencies.

Busy stores, full shopping bags, rising stock prices…these are all signs of commerce. Commerce is another word for business. When plenty of people are spending money, there's a lot of commerce. Commerce is the root of commercial, as in "Society has gotten too commercial!" and "Did you see the latest Arby's commercial?"

To consume is to eat, but when it comes to a capitalist society like ours, there's another important meaning: to buy, buy, buy. Consumers consume goods by buying them, and companies spend huge budgets advertising their wares to get you to purchase their products. You could call companies, large and small, producers, which is the opposite of consumers.

To possess something is to have it, so things you own are possessions. In a commercial society like ours, companies play on our desire to have more possessions with relentless commercials, while coupons and sales entice us to pile up even more stuff. People have insurance in case they lose their possessions, but some can't be replaced so easily, such as family heirlooms, old photographs, autographed books, and other items that are rare or full of meaning.

To endorse someone or something is to give public support. You hear about endorsing a lot during elections, as famous people and other politicians will give endorsements of candidates. In the commercial world, endorsements are a little different: celebrities who do commercials for a product are endorsing it. Since they get paid for these endorsements, you might want to give some thought to whether the endorser actually knows anything about what they're endorsing.