Idea Transcript
June 27, 2006 Apostrophe trouble? Apostrophe abusers of the world (and yeah, they very likely include you), take hope! If your likely to write sentence’s like these: “We recruited 25 subject’s,” or “The subjects name was James Applebee,” or “Parents concerned about their childs eating habits should attend this workshop,” I’ve discovered a support network for you: The Apostrophe Protection Society. The Apostrophe Protection Society was started in 2001 by John Richards, now its Chairman, with the specific aim of preserving the correct use of this currently much abused punctuation mark in all forms of text written in the English language. Richards’ simple rules for apostrophes led me to The Dreaded Apostrophe, a site that simplifies the apostrophe even further, boiling the rules to one:
Use an apostrophe when letters are missing. Way to go, Patrick Nethercot! Except when Nethercot gets into possessives, which often get confused with plural nouns. Then he forces readers into a deep thicket of linguistic history: [snip] I am also going to simplify matters, and having studied linguistics I know this may be oversimplification for some. But here the aim is to explain the dreaded apostrophe, not teach linguistics and old or middle English. So bear with me. English is a Germanic language. It shares much in common with modern German, although much vocabulary was later imported from French/Latin. Quick example: the German for foot is Fuss, for ball is Ball, so football is Fussball. We get the word pedestrian from the French/Latin side though. Some Germanic usage survives in English, particularly in North American English where some archaic forms remain in use - gotten for instance. The -en participle ending will be familiar to German speakers. Like modern German, old forms of English used a genitive case ending to show possession. This is normally -es. For our purposes, that will do. For example, the English The man's coat in German is Der Mantel des Mannes (The coat of the man). Note the -es ending on Mann to show possession. So now let's (let us) go back a few hundred years in English….[big snip-out]The old -es possessive form in English is now missing, and as I am sure you will now remember we use an apostrophe when letters are missing. Got it? Posted by pboyles at 9:45 AM
June 15, 2006 For want of a hyphen Another alert reader did it for me this time, pointing out the ambiguity of the recent Concord Monitor headline, Men more likely to be dating violence victims.
“Did this mean that men were more likely than women to be dating the victims of violence, or that men were more likely than formerly to be dating the victims of violence?” wrote Rufford Harrison of Concord. “Neither, it turned out. Men were more likely to be the victims of dating violence,” writes Harrison. The context demands a hyphen between dating and violence to clear up the ambiguity. Harrison concludes, “The hyphen is possibly the most underused and most needed punctuation mark in the English language.” Hear, hear! Posted by pboyles at 7:40 AM
March 9, 2006 Punctuating with square brackets Someone asked recently about when to punctuate with square brackets (aka box brackets). Use square brackets [] to indicate that youve inserted insert text of your own
into a quotation, usually to clarify the meaning or replace original text. For example:
Elliot wrote, I wonder if [Eckstrom and Phillips] knew about the latest report before they issued the warning. In this case, Eckstrom and Phillips might replace the word they, in a quotation in which the original author would have introduced Eckstrom and Phillips in a previous paragraph. [W]e are potentially looking at more communication and navigation disruptions, more satellite failures, possible disruption of electric grids and blackouts, more dangerous conditions for astronautsall these things, Behnke said during the briefing. Here, Ive cut words from the beginning of Behnkes quotation and added an uppercase W to indicate that Ive begun a new sentence by clipping a section from the full text. Use brackets to close off parenthetical material already within parentheses. For example: (We discuss this second control group [n = 30] in section IV, pp 35-70). You might also set off numerical expressions in box brackets to make them easier to understand. It goes without saying that brackets, like parentheses, always appear in pairs. What opens must close. For the ultimate explanation of the many types and uses of brackets in prose, mathematics, computing, sports, etc., see this Wikipedia entry. Note: Always refer to and follow the official style guide of a professional journal or magazine when preparing an article for publication. Look to your department's style requirements when writing academic papers. Posted by pboyles at 1:17 PM
June 22, 2005 Exclaiming Face-to-face communication provides rich physical context that benefits both speakers and listeners: Speakers can use, and listeners take in, subtle changes in tone, inflection, register, speed and volume; meaningful pauses, changes in breathing; and body language: rolling the eyes, smiling, frowning, grinning, clenching teeth, gesturing, changes in posture, pounding the table. Speakers can tune in and respond immediately to listeners body language. Most of us find it easy to read shades of boredom, confusion, frustration, excitement, wonder, understanding, etc. in our listeners body language. We lose nearly all that physical expression in written communications. The abstractions of words and punctuation and their arrangement on the page seem lifeless by comparison. As one form of compensation, many writers use exclamation points merely for emphasis, especially to express strong emotion: Youll find the flowers as astonishing us as the snakes and parrots! Dr. Winifred Allen offered a fabulous lecture on social Darwinism! In a rush of feelings, writers sometimes lay down two or three exclamation points to increase the emotional emphasis: The talk was great!!! Text peppered with the enthusiasm of exclamation points feels breathy and childlike. To develop emotional context in your writing: Choose strong, meaningful words, especially concrete nouns and verbs that convey action. Vary the length and structure of sentences and paragraphs. Encourage readers to engage with your ideas by asking open-ended questions and introducing ideas that hint at the unexplored aspects of your topic. Explore rhetorical devices such as irony, metaphor, analogy. and physical imagery. Save the exclamation point for true exclamations: Grandma, what big teeth you have! Run for your life! Yikes! Note: Most style guides encourage writers to avoid exclamation points in formal and academic text. Posted by pboyles at 8:55 AM
June 13, 2005 Colon & semicolon Last week, Andrea asked when to use a colon, when a semicolon. Good question! You'll find the "rules" for these two punctuation marks much more fluid than, say, for the period, the exclamation point, or quotation marks. In brief: The colon creates a sentence break nearly as complete as a period.
It announces something to come. Use it:
After a complete statement to introduce some sort of list. Ms. Talbot has published papers in four divergent disciplines: equestrian sports, hatha yoga, rhododendron breeding, and nanotechnology. To introduce a quotation. Roper barked: Get the cattle out! You probably have no trouble remembering these other uses of the colon: After the salutation in a formal letter: Dear Dr. Harris: In time notation: Well meet in the parking lot at 8:00 a.m. To separate chapter and verse in biblical citations: Psalms 121:6 A semicolon separates two closely related elements in a sentence. Ive heard it referred to as a muscular comma. Use a semicolon: To separate two independent clauses in a sentence when you dont use a joining word to introduce the second clause. Andrea has a long commute; she arrives early and eats breakfast at work. To separate independent clauses when you use a conjunctive adverb to introduce the second clause. Andrea has a long commute; however, she arrives early and eats breakfast at work. [Awful truth: When you use a coordinating conjunction and, but, for, or, nor, so, or yetto introduce an independent clause, you use a comma rather than a semicolon: Andrea has a long commute, but she arrives early and eats breakfast at work.] To separate items in a list that also includes commas or other punctuation. The program will include introductory remarks by Dr. Harris, Phil Baker, and Will Ives; five breakout sessions, including a workshop on elder abuse; a keynote speaker at lunch; and an afternoon plenary session. Posted by pboyles at 12:23 PM | Comments (1)
June 6, 2005 Apostrophes would be out of control! That little black stroke called the apostrophe causes no end of difficulty for writers. People put it in when they shouldnt: Used Cars for Sale . Tomatoes $1.29 lb. Dr. Hunt lecture's in college classrooms nationwide . But people also leave it out when they need one: Help build your childrens esteem. Sell your produce at a farmers market. Selma served on a citizens panel. English requires an apostrophe to indicate omitted letters in contractions: Theyve gone to Bermuda. Ill get to it tomorrow. The apostrophe indicates ownership or belonging: The childs mother. The rivers edge. For plural nouns, the apostrophe typically follows the s: Veterans Home, farmers market . For proper nouns ending in s Jones, most style guides call for adding an apostrophe s: the Joness house. Of course, much of the confusion arises because we add es or s to most words to make plurals, and people confuse those plurals with possessives taking an apostrophe s or s apostrophe. The apostrophe made international news last monthat a land grant university, no lesswhen the nonprofit University Gateway Corporation, the group developing a $4.5 million walkway at the University of Minnesota, voted 4-1 to name it Scholars Walk, rather than Scholars or Scholars Walk. As reported by the Associated Press: [Gateway Corporation chair Larry] Laukka argued to board members of. that an apostrophe would add distinction by suggesting it is owned by those it honors. That argument didn't work. The board voted 4-1 against the punctuation mark. The board worried that the apostrophe would make the four-block walkway appear exclusive at a time the university wants to be inclusive. It might even mean adding apostrophes to Regents Professors Square and a Professors Lane. Apostrophes would be out of control!" said board member Margaret Carlson. Readers who want to learn more about the apostrophe or join a rising movement of punctuation activists could turn to the Apostrophe Protection Society, founded in 2001 by retired British journalist John Richards with the rallying cry, The little apostrophe deserves our protection. It is indeed a threatened species!
Posted by pboyles at 9:03 AM | Comments (1)
May 26, 2005 A little hyphen means a lot A smidgen of punctuation can make a big difference in meaning. This hilarious headline: Squad helps dog bite victim makes sense if you add a hyphen: Squad helps dog-bite victim. Use hyphens to improve clarity when you use two or more words in sequence to modify a noun: motorcycle-crash survivor, three-year-old sibling, small-business owners, bare-armed performer . For more information about when to use a hyphen, visit this page at Purdue's online writing lab. Posted by pboyles at 9:33 AM
UNH Cooperative Extension Site Navigation Home | UNHCE Intranet | About Us | Counties | News | Events | Publications | Site Map | Contact Us ©2005 UNH Cooperative Extension Civil Rights Statement