Visual Thesaurus

I enjoy using Visual Thesaurus because it's very, well, visual. Today I found a place where I could put it on my blog, along with the word of the day. Check them out on the right. It's so cool the way the thesaurus morphs from one word to another. You've got to try it!

Write Right

Today I received in the mail a copy of my favorite book on grammar: Write Right by Jan Venolia. I used to have a copy but I loaned it to a friend and then lost touch with her. I referred to it quite often, because it explains grammar rules in an easily understood style. I figured I should have a copy handy as I'm writing this blog, just to make sure I'm correct. If you'd like to own a reference book on grammar, this is the one. I highly recommend it. Both new and used copies are available online, but even if you have to pay full price, it's well worth it. Just make sure you get the one by Jan Venolia, since there are other books by the same name.

Writing “Rules”

I’ve read several times recently that there are no rules for things such as dangling participles or split infinitives. That got me to thinking about where grammar rules come from. There isn’t an official committee that decides these things. Language is an organic, evolving entity. What is or isn’t acceptable depends on the society to which the piece is being written. (Notice how I avoided a dangling participle there?) American and British rules differ. For instance, in the United States, we put quotation marks after a period, while the Brits put them inside. And they use single instead of double quotation marks for direct quotations.

So how are we to distinguish between rules and mere suggestions? Rules are nearly universally accepted within that culture. Suggestions are debatable. What may be a rule in one generation could be a guideline in the next. For instance, the words “they” and “their” are being used more often in a singular way, to avoid using gender-specific words. Most scholars still believe “they” and “their” can only be used in a plural sense. But as the English language evolves, I see that the singular use these words will become completely acceptable.

The Elements of Style has become the standard for writers. Beginning writers are encouraged to buy and study a copy. William Strunk and E.B. White probably never imagined their little book would become the definitive text on style. They had plenty to say on the subject of rules:

• “Who can confidently say what ignites a certain combination of words, causing them to explode in the mind? Who knows why certain notes in music are capable of stirring the listener deeply, though the same notes slightly rearranged are impotent? … There is no satisfactory explanation of style, no infallible guide to good writing, no assurance that a person who is able to think clearly will be able to write clearly, no key that unlocks the door, no inflexible rule by which the young writer may shape his course.”
• “Since the book is a rule book, these cautionary remarks, these subtly dangerous hints, are presented in the form of rules, but they are, in essence, mere gentle reminders: they state what most of us know and at times forget.”

Numbers, Part 2

What if you have several numbers in the same sentence? For instance, "The company recognizes those employees who have worked for five, ten, 15, 20, and 25 years." Technically, according to the first rule from yesterday, this is correct. However, most style manuals agree that numbers shouldn't be mixed in the same sentence. There are two options:

1. Spell out all the numbers. Here we could use the rule of round numbers (yes, I know 15 and 25 aren't round, but they're often treated that way).
2. Don't spell out any of them. I tend to favor this one, because fewer of the numbers are below ten.

The point here is that it's best not to mix numbers. You can decide which way you want to go.

Numbers

On Friday, I helped a friend edit some copy for a give-away postcard. She asked, "What's the rule about spelling out numbers?" There's no simple answer, because different style manuals suggest different things. The two rules I come across most are these:

1. Spell out numbers from zero to ten. Anything above that, use numbers.
2. Spell out numbers from zero to ninety nine. Again, above that, use numbers.

I see the first rule used more often than the second. However, there are some variations on this. For instance, it's usually better to write two million than 2,000,000. (Unless it's the receiving end of money. Then people want to see all those zeros!) The most common rule here seems to be that round numbers are often spelled out.

Hyphenation, Part 2

Yesterday I talked about the lack of a hyphen where there should have been one. Today, I saw a hyphen where there shouldn't be one. In an article in a nutrition newsletter, the author talked about "organically-grown produce." Because organically is an adverb, there shouldn't be a hyphen. Usually, you can tell adverbs by their -ly suffix. But not all words ending in -ly are adverbs (for instance, family), and not all adverbs end in -ly.

If we took "organically grown produce" and made it into a sentence, it would be "The produce is organically grown." Grown is the verb, and organically describes how it was grown. This is the trick to identifying an adverb; it tells us how something was done. However, this is a simplification, and adverbs are much more complicated than that. One of these days, we'll talk more about adverbs.

Hyphenation

Welcome to my new blog. In addition to starting a new editing business, I'm starting a blog to answer grammar questions. I'm one of those people who notice every little mistake. That's good when I'm editing; it's not so good when I can't do anything about it! I've even considered become one of those who defaces signs--just to correct the grammar or the punctuation. (No, I've never done it, nor am I likely to do so.)

The mistake I saw today was on the rear of a furniture delivery truck. It said: "Like New Furniture at Used Prices." The problem is that the adjective (like new) should be hyphenated: "Like-New Furniture."

How do you know when to hyphenate? In this example, "like" modifies "new" and together they modify "furniture." So it's hyphenated. If both adjectives modified the noun, then no hyphen is needed. For instance, "Good Used Furniture." The furniture is good and it is used.

Feel free to comment if you need more clarification or have a specific example.