An E-Newsletter of Profitable Advice about Writing
To Increase Your Personal and Professional Success
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| March 2010
Volume III, Issue 3
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"The Write Stuff!"
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| Writing, Ghostwriting, Editing & Publishing Services
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We Want a Rematch!
OK, the Canadians won the Olympic gold medal in hockey. But do they win the gold medal for the best English?
We'll explore that subject in this month's newsletter, and in the process you'll learn some useful information about grammar.
Also in this issue, you'll have fun reading an Ode to a Spell Checker and taking our famous grammar quiz.
Enjoy reading about writing!
Michael J. Dowling
Professional Writer, Ghostwriter, Editor & Publisher |
Pursuing the Gold
Medal in English
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Last Sunday,
Canada beat the United States
in Olympic hockey. So in this month's issue of The Write Stuff, I'm
continuing the spirit of Olympic competition
by focusing on a few of the grammatical differences between our two
countries.
Let's start with this amusing
e-mail from David Harper, Managing Principal of The Advisory Alliance, a firm that "advises and works with Fortune 500
& mid-market companies to develop & retain their next generation
of
leaders and managers." David writes -
Sometimes we can
get into interesting
situations because of different definitions of the same word. Coming
from Canada, my understanding of the verb "to
table" differed sharply from colleagues in New York City, to some comic
effect the first
time it played itself out in an executive meeting.
Here's what I didn't know at the time (from Wikipedia): "Table as a verb has two contradictory meanings
relating to parliamentary procedure, one in use in the United States and
the
other in the remainder of the English-speaking world. In the United
States, the motion to table (or "lay
on the table") is a proposal to suspend consideration of a pending
motion,
while in the United Kingdom
and elsewhere, to "table" a motion (or "place on the
table") is the means to commence discussion on a proposal."
If David's comments have piqued your interest in British-American word differences, I suggest you conduct a Google search on the subject. I did, and it turned up some fascinating and often humorous facts.
The differences between American English and Canadian (British) English extend beyond vocabulary, to punctuation.
Take the comma, for example. In American English, the comma precedes the closing quotation marks:
"American English is better," said Bob.
But Canadian (British) English places the comma after the closing the quotation mark:
'British English is better', said George.
I've noticed that a lot of American's make the mistake of punctuating like Canadians, although I have to admit that their approach is more logical.
By the way, Canadians (and British) tend to use only one quotation mark (although that's not a firm rule), while Americans use two. For more on this topic, read this interesting article.
And then there's the Oxford comma.
That's the comma - also called the serial or series comma - that precede the conjunction and at the end of a series.
When writing about a series of elements, Canadians and other British types tend to omit the Oxford comma:
The flag is red, white and blue.
But the practice of omitting the series comma can sometimes cause confusion:
We ate hamburgers, hotdogs and
macaroni and cheese.
(Are there three items or four?)
That's why the majority of American grammatical authorities recommend inserting the serial comma. In fact, The Chicago Manual of Style, considered by many to be the leading American authority on grammar, "strongly recommends this widely practiced usage."
But don't be too rigid.
That's the advice of Lynne Truss, the British author of the humorous and informative bestseller Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.
Put the Oxford comma in when it's helpful for avoiding confusion, she says, and leave it out when doing so improves the flow of the sentence.
Lynne goes on to point out how a comma or lack thereof can drastically change the meaning of a sentence. In fact, she based the title of her book on the following story:
A panda walks into a bar. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"Why are you acting in this strange, un-panda-like fashion?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda heads towards the exit.
The panda produces a poorly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. "I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation:
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."
So, who uses the best English - Canadians or Americans?
Unlike hockey, there are no referees in the language arena, just prevailing opinions that evolve over time. So I'll take this opportunity to award the gold medal to American English.
We don't necessarily deserve it, but in this age of political correctness, that's the fair thing to do. After Sunday we need it to repair our damaged self esteem.
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Help Your Friends and Colleagues Become More Successful. Send them this issue of "The Write Stuff!"
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| Ode to a Spell Checker |
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I have a spelling checker
I disk covered four my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see.
Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a blessing.
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.
Each frays comes posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Bee fore wee rote with checkers
Hour spelling was inn deck line,
Butt now when wee dew have a laps,
Wee are not maid too wine.
And now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
There are know faults in awl this peace,
Of nun eye am a wear.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.
That's why eye brake in two averse
Caws Eye dew want too please.
Sow glad eye yam that aye did bye
This soft wear four pea seas.
--Author Unknown
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Our Famous Grammar Quiz
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Which sentences
below are grammatically correct?
1. He reviewed his short-term
plans.
2. He reviewed his quickly made
plans.
3. He made plans for the long
term.
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We Won! |
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| Read These Helpful White Papers |
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Answer to Grammar Quiz
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According to The Chicago Manual of Style, all three sentences
are correct.
1. Short-term is properly hyphenated because it's a compound
adjective, modifying the noun plans.
2. Quickly made is properly open. No hyphen is required between an adverb ending in ly and the participle or
adjective that follows.
3. Long term should not be hyphenated because long is simply an adjective
modifying term.
If you answered all of these correctly and for the correct reasons, send me an e-mail bragging about your achievement and I'll send you a prize!
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Michael J Dowling ~ Writer ~ Editor ~ Ghostwriter ~ Publisher
133 Worthing Road, St. Simons Island, GA 31522
Phone: 912.230.5051 Fax: 912.634.5777
E-mail: MJD@MichaelJDowling.com Website: www.MichaelJDowling.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljdowling
Clear, concise, creative, and convincing writing and editing to enable individuals and organizations
to accomplish their goals and increase their visibility, credibility, and profitability.
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