SmithWriting Blog

… Stylebook, that is. As in the brand spanking new Associated Press 2010 Stylebook, which just arrived at my door!

For writers and editors like me, our stylebook is our bible, constantly in arm’s reach whether proofreading an official document for a client or composing a blog post. How do I use it, you ask? Well, in writing this very paragraph, I looked up the term “bible” to confirm that I lowercase it in this instance. (For those of you who are curious, “Bible” is capitalized when referring to the Scriptures in the Old or New Testaments; it is lowercased as a nonreligious term.)

Although I’m sad to retire my old AP Stylebook (2006 version), I’m beyond excited to break in my new one. Sure, I’ll end up highlighting the same entries that always give me pause (essential clauses, nonessential clauses; composition titles; academic degrees [I do a lot of work for educational institutions]), but now I have 100 new and updated entries to pore over and master.

As you can guess, a lot of the new entries are related to social media (e.g., Twitter, blog, text messaging/instant messaging [complete with popular terms like LOL]). One of the updated entries, “website,” is a marked change from the former “Web site”—and a welcome one to me and most editors I know. In fact, the change came, in part, as a result of user feedback to the AP.

Other new entries of note include “Great Recession,” referring to the recession that began in December 2007, “tea party,” defined as “Populist movement opposing Washington political establishment,” and “Bluetooth,” referring to the wireless standard that enables hands-free cell usage.

Now, while you ponder the fact that “bologna” is the sausage or luncheon meat, and “baloney” is foolish or exaggerated talk, I have some fascinating reading to do.

Filed by rebecca at 3:53 pm under Grammar guide
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Oh, I just love this time of year. Snow is falling, carolers are singing, Christmas tree’s are twinkling—wait, “Christmas tree’s”? Really?

Sorry to be the grammar grinch, folks, but I can’t help but feel a bit grouchy when faced with holiday-related misspellings and typos in ads, signs, and greeting cards. Just because we’re filled with cheer and goodwill (and eggnog) doesn’t mean we should abandon proper grammar and style.

Here are just a few of the grammatical errors I’ve encountered this holiday season:

Seasons Greetings
Don’t get me wrong: I’m more than happy to give and receive warm greetings of the season—but only in a grammatically correct way. You see, the proper term is Season’s Greetings, with an apostrophe before the “s” signifying a possessive.

Christmas tree’s for sale
As we know from my post on the proper use of apostrophes, these marks are primarily used for forming possessives and indicating missing letters or numbers—neither of which apply to the sale of Christmas trees. Vendors beware: The next incorrect sign I encounter may end up with red editing marks!

New Years Eve
Reading about New Years Eve and New Years’ Eve celebrations makes me as sick as drinking too much champagne. Note to party promoters: It’s New Year’s Eve (and New Year’s Day).

The Smith’s
Again, it’s that pesky apostrophe! When you’re addressing a Christmas card to a family of people with the last name Smith, you should address it to The Smiths. (The only time you’d use an apostrophe is if you’re addressing something belonging to the Smith family, and, in that case, you’d add the apostrophe after an “s,” as in “The Smiths’ dog.” But that would be weird. Why not just call her Riley?)

Tis
I suppose I should let this one go, since the term in question dates back to the 1400s and is rarely used these days. But, if you want to be grammatically correct, the proper spelling is ’Tis, with an apostrophe before the “t” to indicate the missing letter “i.” (’Tis is a contraction of “it is,” as in ’tis the season for good wishes and bad grammar.)

Season’s greetings, everyone!

Filed by rebecca at 3:19 pm under Grammar guide
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Well, here it is, one of my favorite days of the year: National Punctuation Day (NPD).

Now in its sixth year, NPD has a mission to cure the “epidemic of poor punctuation in the United States,” according to founder Jeff Rubin.

How can you observe NPD?

Go around town and point out all the incorrectly punctuated signs you can find—but please don’t vandalize!

Enter the NPD baking contest; whip up a pastry or bread in the shape of a punctuation mark and win a prize.

Write a blog post including as many punctuation marks as possible (like I did here [did you notice?]).

Brush up on the proper use of punctuation:

• Where’s the semicolon love?
• Put it in parentheses (please)
• The colon: an unappreciated mark with an unfortunate name
• Read this post about exclamation points!
• Save the apostrophes!
• Quoth the writer, “Nevermore”
• The ellipsis is cool, but …
• The ampersand: form & function
• Slash away
• All about brackets

Filed by rebecca at 8:36 am under Grammar guide
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OK, I admit it: Sometimes I break the rules—grammar rules, that is.

You may find this hard to believe (coming from a self-proclaimed grammar guru), but, in some cases, I think that disobeying certain rules results in better copy.

Here are some common grammar regulations and my thoughts on when it’s acceptable to defy them:

Always use complete sentences.

Pshaw. In my writing, I’ll sometimes use sentence fragments, because I believe they add emphasis:

My dog enjoys naps, walks, and treats. Lots and lots of treats.

No, the latter sentence is not grammatically correct, but it certainly lets the reader know how much my dog likes treats, doesn’t it?

Never begin a sentence with a conjunction.

And why not? I find that beginning a sentence with and, but, as, or because lends a tone of informality to my copy—something I strive for when writing for a young adult audience, for instance:

In our program, you’ll work harder than you ever have in school. But you’ll have a blast doing it.

Never end a sentence with a preposition.

Where did you pick that up from? At times, ending a sentence with a preposition (e.g., by, for, on) is much less awkward than the alternative. For example:

Where are you from? sounds much more natural than From where (whence?) are you? (unless, of course, you’re at a Renaissance Fair).

What are some grammar rules that you’ve been known to break?

Filed by rebecca at 1:14 pm under Grammar guide
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As a copy editor, I often find myself correcting the misuse of the terms i.e. and e.g.

These seemingly harmless letter combinations can actually do a lot of damage when used improperly: Not only can they change the meaning of your work, they can also make you look stupid—and no one wants that. So here’s a quick lesson on their proper usage:

i.e.

an abbreviation for the Latin term id est, meaning “that is” or “in other words”
Use i.e. to provide clarification:
Many writers become flummoxed, i.e., frustrated and confused, over the use of i.e. versus e.g.

e.g.

an abbreviation for the Latin term exempli gratia, meaning “for example”
Use e.g. to provide examples:
Perhaps they should turn to the professionals at SmithWriting for help with their writing projects, e.g., advertisements, brochures, and Web sites.

Always put a comma after i.e. and e.g. And be sure to include a period after each letter in both abbreviations.

So, is it i.e. or e.g.?

Since I don’t know Latin, I use this trick to determine which term to use:
I ask myself, “Am I giving examples?” If so, I use e.g. (Reverse the first letters of “giving examples,” and voila!)  If not, I use i.e.

Filed by rebecca at 5:29 pm under Grammar guide
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One of my favorite typographical symbols, the asterisk is used in printing or writing to indicate a footnote, an omission, or emphasis; it also has other less common uses.

The term asterisk comes from the Latin asteriscum, meaning “little star”—based on the character’s celestial shape.

Primary uses of the asterisk:

To indicate a footnote
(place the asterisk after something you what to clarify)
see this post’s title and footnote

To indicate an omission
Holy s**t!

To represent emphasis in plain text
(in lieu of bold or italics)
He is *really* smart.

To make a list
(use them as bullet points)
To-do list
* Write profile
* Update blog
* Lunch with client

To convey an action by the writer
(use them in informal communications, such as e-mails and blogs)
Don’t even get me started on creepy clowns … *shudder*

To represent a kiss
(as a computer emoticon)
:*

The asterisk is also used in computing, mathematics, and gaming.

*This post may not contain all there is to know about the asterisk.

Filed by rebecca at 7:30 pm under Grammar guide
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Prefixes are letters or groups of letters put at the beginning of a word to make a new word. Some of the most common include a-, anti-, co-, dis-, ex-, extra-, pre-, pro-, re-, semi-, and un-.

Prefixes have the power to transform us from happy to unhappy, from believing to disbelieving, from terrestrial to extraterrestrial in just a few strokes of the keyboard. So let’s make sure we’re using them correctly.

In general, do not hyphenate when using a prefix with a word starting with a consonant.
restart
precook
semicircle

However, hyphenate after a prefix to avoid duplicated vowels.
anti-inflammatory
re-elect
pre-eminent
(In this case, the hyphens aren’t always necessary; it’s really a style thing.)

Hyphenate when the word that follows a prefix is capitalized.
pre-Vatican II
anti-American

Hyphenate after a prefix to clarify meaning.
I recovered my keys in the backyard.
I re-covered my pool in the backyard.

When in doubt, always consult a dictionary or your style guide.

Filed by rebecca at 9:29 am under Grammar guide
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No, I’m not talking about the brackets we filled in last month during the NCAA basketball tournament. I’m referring to the much more useful (albeit less exciting) punctuation marks [ ].

Also known as “box brackets” or “square brackets,” these marks are primarily used to enclose editorial inserts in direct quotes.

For example:
“I thought that it [the party] was a huge success!”

Brackets containing the word “sic” (Latin for “thus”) indicate that a misspelling or misuse of language in a direct quote is in fact what was written (even though it is incorrect).

For example:
“My travels brought me to Egypt, Libia [sic], and Tunisia.”

When nested parentheses are needed, brackets are used with their rounded relatives.

For example:
(John Adams [1735-1826] and Samuel Adams were second cousins.)

Brackets are also used in math, chemistry, and computer programming.

Know of any other usage for this square pair? Please share.

Filed by rebecca at 6:26 pm under Grammar guide
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The slash (/), or virgule, is a slanted character used to separate related items of information. It’s not very sexy or exciting, but, like every punctuation mark, it has its proper place in everyday grammar.

Uses of the slash:

To express “per”
The speed limit is 65 miles/hour.

In dates and fractions
My birthday is 1/3.
The recipe calls for 2 ½ cups of butter.

To indicate options
She took a biology class on a pass/fail basis.
If convicted, he’ll be sentenced to two years in jail and/or a $3,000 fine.
(I caution you to limit the use of “and/or”; it’s quite cumbersome and unnecessary in most cases.)

To denote the end of a line of poetry
“I am writing these poems / From inside a lion, / And it’s rather dark in here.”
- Shel Silverstein

In URLs
http://smithwriting.com/blog/

Note: The slash should never be confused with its mirror image, the backslash (\). Limit use of this backward character to strictly computing contexts.

Filed by rebecca at 8:00 pm under Grammar guide
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A common grammar mistake made by writing novices and professionals alike is the misuse of the words “effect” and “affect.” This is no surprise, seeing as how both words can be used as either a noun or a verb (who makes up these rules?!).

To help ease the confusion, I’ve put together a simple usage guide:

Rule of thumb is to use “effect” as a noun and “affect” as a verb.

effect (noun): result

Never underestimate the effect of your actions.
 

effect (verb): to cause

Our new leader hopes to effect change.
 

affect (verb): to influence

The weather affects my mood.
 

affect (noun): emotional response

This one is kind of tricky, which is why I caution you from using it. “Affect” as a noun is reserved primarily for psychological use, as in: The patient displayed an aloof affect.

Hopefully, our proper use of these words will have a ripple effect and spread good grammar all around!

Filed by rebecca at 5:33 pm under Grammar guide
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