No. 14: Better Written Communication
September 2nd 2008 17:50
Just a little detailing
An English major or instructor may wish to comment on this post, since I never claim to be an expert.
There are some very obvious differences between the British and American word usages. Many we recognize right away, such as when the Brits, and some former colonists, use the letter u where the U.S. differs. For instance, words like "favour," and "labour," etc.
For punctuation, the American style books encourage ALL commas and periods be placed inside quotes. The Europeans may set off quoted words with periods and commas outside, depending on the sentence structure.
British people take certain prefixes more literally, and perhaps more correctly. (Hyphens will be used to highlight the differences.) They will say, and write, the words "pro-ject" all the time, whereas the Americans have chosen to divide the words more definitively and as they sound in the U.S. "Pro-ject" is a verb. "Proj-ect" is a noun. The islanders may say and write "pro-duct," in each case. The Americans will say "prod-uct" and divide the word accordingly in written form. This difference is common when the prefix "pro" is used with other words.
Americans may have noticed when typing an email message, that one-half of the quotation marks has been removed. I suspect the international gatekeepers have done this for simplicity. After all, it is helpful not having to hit the cap key just to begin and end quotations.
Speaking of quotation marks, I recall, back in the 70s (a single quotation mark can be used here), when hot metal typesetting was being replaced with photo composition, there were not enough keys allowed for single quotation marks on some machines and with some typefaces. People were forced to use the single opening quotation mark for what should have been used by a single closing quotation mark.This can work with a sans serif font (one with curves), but will make a writer look inept when using it with fonts that have a serif. When writing, we should pay close attention to this detail for dates. (i.e. '08.) Auto dealers often make this mistake in their advertisements! Convention sign and banners make this boo boo as well. I have even seen this error made with contractions like "don't." Good writers stay alerted and avoid this mistake.
What about "its" and "it's"? This is a very common mistake today. "Its" should be used to express possession. "It's" means "it is." The two should never be confused.
People have often forgotten when a "prime" should be used. Never use a font with serifs for mathematical use. Inches and feet should not have little curvy marks (serifs). Primes are properly used. It usually requires a sans serif font to distinguish between a prime and a single closing quote.
Around the time photo composition arrived, the women's liberation movement was gaining momentum in the U.S. Women's groups shouted that the use of masculine pronouns as a simplified way to express humanity was "sexist." It quickly became politically incorrect to write such things as "everyone thought his method was correct," or "each person should have his own ideas." You know where I am headed here. People starting writing, and saying, "Everyone thought their method was correct,' and so forth.
A fine writer will make every effort to avoid this trap. If the content is particularly long, we have all seen authors prefacing their work with a disclaimer stating their preference for the masculine style, and that it includes all women where it applies.
If one can avoid making the first-person-singular/second- person-plural errors by using "the" instead of "them" or "they," one should take the time. Should this not be possible, he/she, him/her is preferred by better writers, if it does not become overly cumbersome.
For other grammatical hints, any English textbook should suffice. I have just tried exposing some of the more common errors.
Keep it between the lines...
| 73 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
