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Category Archives: Language use

On the humble apostrophe

20 Apr

I wasn’t sure I was going to write anything on the apostrophe, as it seems such a basic thing that people like me who work with words tend to go on about (we don’t really roam the streets, Sharpie in hand, looking for hapless greengrocers … )

But then I noticed more and more confusions, and a friend or two mentioned that they still weren’t sure, so: the humble apostrophe.

Turning to the dictionary, an apostrophe is “an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem addressed to a person or personified thing.” Oh – not the one we want. OK, it’s “a punctuation mark (‘) used to indicate either possession or the omission of letters or numbers.” That’s better.

Let’s move on to Hart’s Rules, which, oddly enough, contains the rules of English. The following information is summarised from Hart’s. Please do pay attention to all but the ones I mark as terribly hard – they are the ones where you need to know there’s something funny about them and you’ll need to look them up. That’s what we all do, just to check …

The apostrophe is used in two ways – to show possession (ownership) and to mark where letters or numbers have been missed out.

Possession
Easy …
– Use an apostrophe and an s with a normal single noun or indefinite pronoun to show possession – the girl’s job, the box’s contents, anyone’s guess.
A bit harder …
– Use the apostrophe and s combination for plural nouns that don’t end in s – people’s opinions, children’s toys.
– Do NOT use an apostrophe in the possessive pronouns: hers, its, ours, yours, theirs – theirs is the kingdom of heaven, a friend of yours, give the dog its dinner (it’s easier to remember the “its” rule if you think of it belonging to this section).
A bit harder still …
– Use the apostrophe alone (no s after it) after plural nouns that DO end in s – our neighbours’ gardens, other countries’ borders.
– In compound and “of” phrases, the apostrophe (and the plural, in fact) go after the last noun – my sister-in-law’s son, the King of Spain’s estates.
– Use an apostrophe and s with personal names ending with an s, x, or z sound – Charles’s, Dickens’s, Marx’s and Jesus’s.
Ever so hard (to be honest I sometimes have to look these up and I don’t often see them used correctly) …
– Use an apostrophe and no s when talking about time passing – in a few days’ time, a few weeks’ holiday. But if it’s in the name of a war, no apostrophe – The Hundred Years War.
– A double possessive (making use of both “of” and an apostrophe) may be used with nouns related to living beings or personal names – a speech of Churchill OR a speech of Churchill’s. But it’s not used with nouns referring to organisations, etc. – a friend of the National Gallery.
– A double set of nouns – apostrophe and s go after them if they are acting together – Broomfield and Dexter’s “The Rules of Grammar” – but not if they’re separate – Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s tragedies.
– Apostrophe and no s for a singular noun that ends in an s or z sound combined with “sake” – for goodness’ sake, for old times’ sake (times here is a plural so has the apostrophe after the s). This is the one I have to look up. Maybe you should save this blog post for those purposes.
Believe me, there are more obscure rules, for example those dealing with Greek names. If you need to know, ask me!

Plurals
Just – don’t. If you really, really need to differentiate, you are just about allowed a small, occasional one, only in examples like – dot the i’s and cross the t’s, find all the number 5’s. But that’s it. And there’s not one with numbers any more, although this has changed in the last decade or so: the 1980s not the 1980’s.

Contractions/omissions
Easy …
Use an apostrophe when a letter or number has been missed out: won’t, we’ll, bo’sun, ’70s, it’s warm out today.
A bit harder …
Don’t use an apostrophe before a word that’s been shortened but is now in general use – flu, cello and phone, not ‘flu, ‘cello and ‘phone.
If the apostrophe replaces the beginning or end of a word, it has a space before/after it to make the word stay separate – rock ‘n’ roll. If the apostrophe replaces a letter in the middle of the word, no space – ma’am, o’er.
Madly hard to remember …
An apostrophe is used before the suffix when an abbreviation functions as a verb – KO’d, OD’ing.

References
Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th rev. ed.) Oxford: OUP, 2008.
New Hart’s Rules Oxford: OUP, 2005.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2011 in Errors, Language use, Punctuation, Reference materials, Writing

 

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On a different type of language

30 Mar

Time for another guest post, this time from Gary Jones. I met Gary through my hobby of BookCrossing and have done some copyediting work for him to complement his web development skills. I really like this beautiful meditation on a very different kind of language from that usually discussed on here.

Here’s what Gary sent me when I asked for a biography – I can’t put it better myself, so I won’t!

Gary Jones is a freelance web developer from Basingstoke with a keen interest in anything to do with the web. He specialises in WordPress sites using the Genesis theme framework. You can follow Gary on Twitter.

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I write code for a living. It could be in one of many languages, but all require careful checking as one misplaced or missing character could cause a fatal error and kill a website completely. Debugging code can be fun, or it can take hours to find where one single comma or semi colon is missing. There are many types of error within code, but pretty much all of them can come down to one thing – human error.

Code can have a beauty of its own. Whereas an author might weave a lavish scene with in-depth explanations of intricate details, the most impressive code is often the smallest fragment that does most of the work; one line of code that culminates from the conditional logic, foreach and while loops, switch statements and concatenations that kick-starts the application into life.

Encapsulations, polymorphism and synchronicity await those who dare to delve a little deeper. Code patterns, gradual degradation, progressive enhancements, refactorisations, even the terms related to code are elegant, and that’s just what good code should be – elegant, accurate and concise.

 
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Posted by on March 30, 2011 in Guest posts, Language use, Writing

 

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Why bother? The value of proofreading

23 Mar

A while ago, I asked people what they’d like to see me writing about. One that came up there, and has come up since, and before, and whenever I mention I’m a proofreader/copyeditor, is … “why bother?” Why can’t people just express themselves however they want, with whatever spelling, grammar and punctuation they fancy?

I have to state my own view here; that’s all I can do. And furnish some examples, many drawn from a discussion I had with peers in the copyediting business, on a forum to which I belong. I fall in between the prescriptive and descriptive camps when it comes to spellings, grammar, etc. and their (inevitable) changes. I glory in new words and word-formations (I’ve been slightly obsessed with the -gate suffix for more years than I care to recall) and I find it fascinating to see how language changes with time. I don’t think it should be fixed, nailed down and not allowed to change. But I still care deeply about clarity and precision of expression. And, in my opinion, if you don’t know the rules and how to apply them, if you don’t *care* about the rules and how to apply them, then the clarity of what you’re expressing can easily be lost, and your meaning may not come across as you intend it to.

Please note, I am not criticising those who don’t know the rules, or have difficulty applying them. How could I, when my own clients include people whose English is not their first (or second, or third) language, dyslexic people, people who’ve not been taught at school or college how the rules work. I like a laugh at a dodgy shop sign as much as the next person, but I wouldn’t point out those things publicly in this blog, or ever want to make people feel I’m mocking them. But if you are not sure what to put or how to write it, there are reference materials all over the place, and people like me and my colleagues, who can help out.

So, some examples (thanks again to the Copyediting-List folks for providing some of them)

— A purple people-eater is purple and eats people, but a purple-people eater eats only the purple ones.

— Here’s a fascinating link showing the importance of word order:

— Here’s an example of how important language is in the legal field. And it’s not just in the legal field – while many students are not marked down for grammar and punctuation these days, a friend who lectures in speech and language therapy does, as a mistake in someone’s notes can cause many problems down the line.

— On a similar note, haven’t we all got colleagues or other people we communicate with who may not have great written language skills? Doesn’t it devalue their opinions a little in your mind, when everyone’s laughing at the latest email or sign?

— This is a long one, but it shows the importance of punctuation!

Dear Jim:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?
Anne

Dear Jim:
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Anne

— Capitalisation matters too, in this great example from Andy Mabbett:

One area of capitalisation that divides even experts in the field is around species names. There are many types of black-headed gulls, and lots of little gulls, but only one species called Black-headed Gull (and it has a brown head!) and one species of Little Gull. Consider:

“Is that black-headed gull a black-headed gull?”

“No, that’s a little gull. The little gull on the railing is a black-headed gull.”

vs.

“Is that black-headed gull a Black-headed Gull?”

“No, that’s a Little Gull. The little gull on the railing is a Black-headed Gull.”

— A classic: Let’s eat Grandma!/Let’s eat, grandma!

— Lynne Truss did well out of this one: Eats, shoots, and leaves/Eats shoots and leaves.

— This one comes in various forms and with various names… I would like to thank my parents, the Pope and Mother Teresa.

Publishers and other purveyors of words have style guides, academic departments ask their students to reference books read in a certain way, and proofreaders and copyeditors (and copy writers) use reference materials such as the ones I’ve discussed before, to make sure that what they produce is clear and consistent. We do this, I think, on behalf of the reader, so they’re not distracted by mistakes, howlers and inconsistencies. My aim in my work is to help the writer express themselves clearly and accurately, so their readers can read their texts simply and easily, using their brainpower and concentration to absorb the concepts of the text at hand, or just enjoy a work of fiction without having to puzzle over the word the author meant to use.

So – why bother? Do you think I should? Do you think we should? And have I answered the question?

 
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Posted by on March 23, 2011 in Errors, Language use, Punctuation, Reference materials, Why bother, Writing

 

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On the semicolon

16 Mar

A while ago, I wrote a post about blogging more for 2011, asking people what they’d like me to write about; I had several replies. The responses had different themes: business issues; what I got up to during my working week; and specific things like the use of the semicolon and capitals.

I love the semicolon; I think it’s a thing of elegance and beauty. I use it a lot in my copyediting work, often swapping in a semicolon for a comma; I never know which changes my clients accept, but I hope those are some of them!

And now I’m going to stop trying to use it in every sentence. Like a bright colour in a room or a choice swear word in a conversation, it’s perhaps best used sparingly if you’re to get the full effect.

So: a definition. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the semicolon thus: “n. a punctuation mark (;) indicating a more pronounced pause than that of a comma.” It also reminds me that it’s written semicolon, and not semi-colon, causing me to (a) check this in my other sources and (b) amend what I’ve typed already here.

And when do we use it? Here, I turn to New Hart’s Rules, which is recommended by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders and so is a style bible for me. Basically, you use a semicolon to divide two or more main clauses which complement or parallel each other and could stand as sentences in their own right. Basically, this makes the text flow better, as instead of being divided up into choppy, short sentences, you can create one, or a series of, balanced and elegant statements. Remember though, folks – if the second clause explains the first, a colon is more appropriate.

You can also use it in a list, in two ways: either where the items in the list have commas within each item, and a semicolon between each item will clarify matters (“They pointed out, in support of their plea, that they had interviewed all of the candidates, successful and unsuccessful; that they had contacted those people, by telephone if possible, who had not been successful; and that they had written to all the others”) or where there is a list separated from the rest of the sentence with a colon, as in my initial paragraph, above.

Interestingly for my international work and readers, there is no difference here between British English and American English.

Here ends my short lesson on the semicolon. Go on, try using one today!

 
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Posted by on March 16, 2011 in Language use, Punctuation, Writing

 

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Buzzwords in business and elsewhere

02 Mar

Time for another guest post, this time from Bernadette Jones from first4admin. Bernadette runs a Virtual Assistance company which offers administrative and secretarial support – and I work with her when she needs to offer my particular services to a client. She has also been a vital support to me in my first steps into the business of Networking, generously sharing tips and hints on how to proceed.

When I asked people if they would like to post a guest post on this blog, I didn’t specify what I wanted them to talk about, as long as it was related to words, business, etc., i.e. loosely related to the usual subjects of this blog. We’ve had Linda Gillard on creative writing, and we’ve got posts on training and writing marketing materials coming up. But for now – well, what are your favourite new buzzwords?

Buzzwords to the rescue!

Words are marvellous and buzzwords, in particular, are becoming more and more frequent. I stumbled across the word “greentailing” the other day, which defines either the selling of environmentally friendly products, or the use of eco-friendly methods in order to run a business. “Greentailer” is the noun derived from this word. Companies such as Walmart are pioneers of this form of retailing, and this form of business can only prove to become more popular as people are now more aware of environmental issues and are more likely to purchase from a company showing that it has the environment at the core of its business ethics.

Another buzz word which I have heard more and more of my friends use now is “glamping” which is used to define a luxury way of camping – brilliant! I have yet to hire a tepee or a yurt in order to camp, but I have already purchased Cool Camping England, published by Jonathan Knight, Paul Marsden and Andy Stothert. This is an excellent publication, giving information about very special places to camp in England. It is going to be one of my resolutions for 2011 to find a glamorous way of camping. Roll on the Summer!

“App” is also another buzzword which I particularly find appealing, and the American Dialect Society have elected the word “app”, which is a computer or smartphone application, as Word of the Year for 2010.

No doubt 2011 will serve to be another year where more and more buzzwords become more commonplace.

 
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Posted by on March 2, 2011 in Blogging, Business, Guest posts, Language use

 

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On sparing your blushes

28 Nov

I was at a networking event the other morning, chatting with someone about how I explain what I do. I realised that, in essence, “what I do” comes down to “saving people from embarrassment”.

– If you’ve prepared advertising leaflets, PR material or promotional goodies to give out to people, the last thing you want is for them to be laughing at your typos rather than marvelling at the products and services you provide.

– When you’re in your PhD viva, you want the discussion to be about your central hypothesis and results, not the glaring error on p. 523.

– People who read blogs (and I discussed this with a few people) do notice spelling and grammar issues. Even if it’s a personal or creative blog, you’re still putting your brand out there. If someone notices a lack of attention to basic questions of clear and error-free writing, are they going to trust your attention to detail in other matters? (before you start foaming at the gills about writing ability, see below)

– Your web page should be there to advertise you and your services/products. Sure, no publicity is bad publicity, but do you really want your URL bandied around the internet as a “funny” on an email to people’s friends and colleagues?

– Readers notice mistakes in novels and it disrupts the flow of their reading and jolts them back into the real world for a moment. As a creative writer, you want them to inhabit your world, not the world of people who scribble out grocers’ apostrophes with a marker pen!

I could go on… but, a word about writing ability. Yes, there are lots of people out there who don’t know the rules or have issues such as dyslexia. I am not criticising their ability or their right to express themselves in writing – of course not! But, if you know you have an issue or grammar/spelling/sentence structure isn’t your forte, get in touch with someone like me who can help you with that. Attention to detail encompasses knowing something is a little awry and calling in someone to fix it, not just writing the piece perfectly the first time.

 
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Posted by on November 28, 2010 in Errors, Language use

 

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Pet hates and the things everyone seems to do

29 Jul

I put a post up on my facebook page for Libro asking for people’s pet hates in language use, and got a good range of interesting comments, so I thought I’d open it up on here, too.

Personally, I try to stay calm when confronted with errors and irritations – after all, it’s my job to sort them out and help the writer to express themselves clearly and confidently. In real life, yes, I do hop up and down when I see grocers’ apostrophes (however, I did NOT go out with the white-out and amend some signs near the University, contrary to the opinions of quite a few people!) and I’ve been known to mention them to the staff of the shop in question.

In my proofreading life, I come across the same things over and over again. Academics using “… and whatnot” rather than “etc.”. People starting off using “organise” and switching to “organize” and back again, and back again, and back again. The formation of “a lot” into one word.

I do worry that clarity and the wide range of expressiveness held by our language is being lost. OK, so you can understand “There are less people in this queue”, but isn’t it just nicer to know it should be “fewer”? (I have one dear friend who is very keen on that one…) Or maybe I’m just too pedantic.

Well, I’d rather have someone who’s too pedantic as my proofreader, wouldn’t you?

So just to mix it up a little – what language misuse do you own up to? I will admit to being very good at saying “Ali and me went to the cafe” when of course it should be “Ali and I”. I know what to do in my written English, I hasten to add! What about you..?

 
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Posted by on July 29, 2010 in Language use

 

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