English is the world's most useful language but Hungarian gets my vote for most beautiful.
No doubt there will be as many differing opinions on the “most beautiful” of all languages as there are languages and nationalities, which is why even if we were to choose one unifying language for business and technology, it would be good to keep our mother tongues (or learn a second language, if the common language were our own). Clarity in communication is important, but not always more important than a rich cultural heritage and its unique form of expression.
I have a question on apostrophe use. We all know that an apostrophe shouldn't be used to show plural. But, in technical writing, it is sometimes useful to refer to the plural of one-character things, like "1" or "0" or "A" (The computer was configured to transmit a series of 1s or 0s") But if you try this with a letter, like A, you get the English word "As" and not the plural for more than one A. For clarity, I use "A's". As wrong as it may be, it's what gets understood. Any better suggestions?
You’re a technical writer, but you don’t own a copy of Chicago Manual of Style? For shame, for shame! Or are you stuck using some misguided, antiquated in-house style guide that doesn’t take such things into account? Anyway, according to Chicago Manual of Style (15th Edition):
7.16 Use of apostrophe. To avoid confusion, lowercase letters and abbreviations with two or more interior periods or with both capital and lowercase letters form the plural with an apostrophe and an s.
BUT…(you knew that “but” was coming, didn’t you?)
7.65 Plurals of letters. To avoid confusion, the plural of single lowercase letters is formed by adding an apostrophe before the s. The s is roman even when the letter is italic. Capital letters do not normally require an apostrophe in the plural.
Somewhat unhelpfully, they give “the three Rs” as an example. And then they give “There really are two x’s in Foxx.” (Note that according to 7.63, you’re supposed to italicize letters used as letters; in “the three Rs” we’re not talking about the letter R, but “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.”) Anyway, I say let common sense prevail; if omitting the apostrophe causes more confusion than clarity, use it. By the way, the editors of CMS are chicken; see this example: “She finished with one A, three Bs, and two Cs.” See how deftly they avoided the whole issue of As and A’s?
Numerals do not require an apostrophe before the s, however. Ever. At least I can’t think of a good exception offhand, even if 0s and Os do look awfully similar. You just need to be very clear about your meaning in context. But this is also a good reason to use a nice monospaced Courier font (or any font that’s monospaced, has serifs, and clearly distinguishes between the letter O and zero) when showing code examples.
I agree that the F word should be accepted in polite society. Is it ironic that I therefore do not write the F word in this comment?!
Did I SAY that? Omigosh… really? Eeek. Hey, what word starts with an “f” and ends with “—uck”?
Get your mind out of the gutter. It’s “firetruck.”
Hi Jessiebelle,
I just started getting your For Authors newsletter and I've, like, been so busy that I, like, just couldn't get around to, like, reading it until today.
I've obviously been missing out!
This newsletter is a delight. GREAT JOB! I'm glad, too, to know I'm not the only one who's tempted to take a Sharpie to all those mis-apostrophed (apostrophied? inappropriately apostrophic??) words! Those drive me nuts, too.
Thanks for creating such a great newsletter.
-- Daryl
Why, thank you, Daryl! Like, you are just too kind! And I like your proposed words. How about hyperapostrophic (e.g., “you’re place or mine”)? Anapostrophic (shoulda had one but didn’t)? Think Webster or OED will hire us? Like, that’d be a totally kewl job!
You aren't a freak. Spelling and gramatical errors drive me crazy too. Between being a writer and my "day job" as a Program Assistant, I've been slammed down (hey, slang!)countless times for minor errors, so my mercy for others is severely limited. I suppose spellcheck and grammercheck are our saving graces - when they work right.
Dare I point out…nahhh. Spell checkers and grammar checkers have improved dramatically over the last ten years. They were really bad, right up to a few years ago, but now – I highly recommend them. Ever notice this weird tendency to make spelling and grammar errors when pointing out others’ spelling and grammar errors? I think it’s karma, or something.
Your discourse on slang is queit educative.Do you think there is a way slangs could be completely remove from literary writings?I do not think so, to me, it do add spice to some writings.
Of course not. It’s part of what makes us human and interesting, and it’s one of the ways language evolves (eventually, “slang” that’s in widespread use becomes accepted and adopted into the mainstream and enriches the language – but that takes time, and only the best slang survives that long). It’s just a question of appropriateness.
Hello, I would like to make an announcement of my lifelong dream of becoming a published author has come true. I have been writing for 20 years and I recently published my first book. It is called Cursed Blood. A dream motivated the story. I never thought it would be published but it was! Now I need to get my other books published. I'm just very excited. Thanks!!
Amber Rigby Grosjean
Wow! Congratulations, Amber. Be sure to plug it at http://www.writing.com/main/authors/action/in_print - we like to support our Writing.com authors!
Great NL, Jessiebelle!
My dad tells my friends and me to, "don't say butt, don't say like, and don't state the obvious."]
My friend says, "But, I'm like, a girl!"
The word "like" incorrectly annoys my dad so much... I thought it soooo funny when you mentioned that because of what comes to mind.
Hah! Isn’t your friend the clever one? My dad’s pet peeve was “Hey!” I can’t hear that word without hearing his voice saying, “Hay is for horses.”
Excellent editorial, as always!
Thank you!
What a great newsletter. I agree wholeheartedly. I tend to use slang as I'm writing, then I'll go back and take it out because most of my work I don't want to be dated. I have to laugh though, one of the new slang words is 'snap'. I just have to shake my head...
Gives me an idea for a writing challenge – anyone care to run with the idea? Write a short short story illustrating how a new slang term first came into being, and how it caught on and spread. The funnier, the better. Send links if you’re reading this and game to try it – I may publish your story in an upcoming issue of the newsletter!
Hi,
You refreshed my memory. All those rules of grammer one struggled with in school but forgot and those slightly familiar yet were flouted carelessly are striking back! Thanks for the amusing style. Enjoyble read.--Kuchanna
They do have a tendency to come back to haunt you (or flog you) later in life. What’s really funny is to watch a bunch of professional writers struggle to remember the “rule” that demonstrates their own usage (or corrections, if editing someone else’s work) are correct. That’s the beauty of a good grammar book and an authoritative style guide.
I like the price on tomatoes, no matter how you spell it.
Delightful Newsletter.
Hahahahah…not the first time I’ve made that mistake. Apparently, Writing.com doesn’t like dollar signs. What’s the symbol for “gift points” I wonder??
I am a lover of slang! Well, not in my writing of course but speaking in slang is what I do best. My friends and I have adopted the habit of shortforming all words. Obv. = obviously for example.
Kewl. Just keep it out of your formal writing and far away from the workplace, and you should be just fine!
It's vs. its. I don't know why I have so much trouble with such a small word: "it's" being a conjunction, and "its" being possessive or plural (I counted fifteen its in a paragraph.) OK, that's a stretch.
I was so annoyed that I couldn't seem to get it right every time, I devised a little test. If "it" had an "s" on the end, I changed it to "it is," (just in my brain, of course).
To use your example above: "It is a shame that the car lost it is shine when...."
Its pretty simple.
Exactly! Once you develop an eye for it, it is simple. But because the two sound alike, and we recognize meaning from context, it’s easy to make the error.
Great issue, Jessie. The information on slang was quite good and useful.
Thank you! I’m glad.
Like that was totally an awesome Newsletter, Jesseibelle.
My daughter speaks this way too, and I just cringe. I clear my throat whenever she's uses it, and she gets angry (go figure)! Worse yet, she's twenty-five years old.
I loved the humor in this Newsletter, and hope that you don't end up buying your son a new bike (that's a lot of quarters).
Like, you are just too kind. My daughter, like, gets mad at me for usurping her lingo. As if…like, she doesn’t even know the word “usurp.” Whatev…
Crud. Now I owe my son fifty cents.
How 'bout - "whole-nuther?" Drives me crazy.
  I just used “whole ‘nuther” for effect yesterday – even debated whether to spell it ‘nother (as in “another”) or ‘nuther (as in how it sounds). But notice the deliberate word choice; I suspect it’s only a pet peeve when you think the writer’s dead serious and doesn’t know better. That’s a whole ‘nuther kettle o’ fish, ain’t it?
You're not the only one who wants to correct signs--sometimes I have to be physically restrained! Great newsletter...you know, I made up the word "prettiful"? (Of course, I'm pretty sure so did a lot of other people, but still...)
Prettiful: The prom queen was prettiful of herself until she was ditched by her date, and then she was just prettiful in her tear-stained, satin gown.
I always enjoy reading your newsletter. You always have interesting topics to discuss. Thanks Jessie!!!!
Carol McKenzie
Thank you, Carol! I’m glad. If not for readers who enjoy my writing, I think I’d rather learn a trade, like hanging sheetrock.
Questions? Comments? Write them in the little box below, and click the button to send them in. We editors love feedback. And good luck with the contest!
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For Authors: May 09, 2007 Issue [#1702]
