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As a child, I can remember loving to hear onomatopoeic words. I loved them long before I knew that term. “Splash,” “jumping,” “disaster,” were all close (or belonging to) the onomatopoeic. A favourite from undergrad days was “brouhaha,” although that particular example never came up in essay writing. A year or two after telling a friend that I liked the term and the phenomena, a friend reported that he’d witnessed a discussion with staff at Tim Horton’s. There, he said, a discussion on the concept of dairy-free pastries “resulted in a brouhaha.”

Today I want to discuss a similar theme that I recall noticing, as a child: “words that don’t mean what they’re supposed to.” By this, I mean words that evoke by sound a meaning that is contrary to their actual meaning. A case in point? “Nonplus.”

Imagine my delight when American etymologist Bryan Garner recently discussed the very term, in his daily blog! He writes that “nonplus” as a verb means “to baffle or confound unexpectedly.” The term appears (and is pronounced) alike in both American and British English. That is because with both ” ‘nonplussed’ and ‘nonplussing,’ . . . the second syllable is stressed.” Continue reading “Are you puzzled by “nonplus?” Read today’s blog posting . . . .”

Last Thursday’s blog posting was deferred until now, due to system changes with Canadian Web Hosting.  Thank you for your patience!

I’m often asked by clients of my editing services how to know when to correctly capitalize words that follow a colon. When I refer to the “rules,” I sometimes find those clients stop listening (lol)! So, from The Chicago Manual of Style (TCMS), here’s a more comprehensible reply:

TCMS says that “A colon introduces an element or a series of elements illustrating or amplifying what has preceded the colon . . . .” (E.g.: “George was faced with a difficult choice: Should he tell what he read in the letter and spoil the surprise? Or should he remain silent and risk that Natalie would leave town, before the time of the party?”)

In the example just given, the “S” in “should” and the “O” in “or” are capitalized, because the colon introduces two sentences. Logically, this makes sense, as the capitalization clarifies the beginning point of each of the two sentences that follow it.

In fact, the first word after a colon will be capitalized (i) if it is a proper name; (ii) when it introduces two or more sentences (as above); (iii) or when it introduces a speech in dialogue, or an extract. Continue reading “When do you use capitals after colons? Today’s punctuation bugbear . . .”

Although it’s not uncommon for celebrities or politicians to say they hate giving interviews, if truth be told, there are copywriters and journalists who hate making interviews, as well.

For some months now, I’ve been interviewing colleagues and friends for an upcoming e-book on creatives. And interviews are the lifeblood of business writing as well as of journalism. Veteran American journalists Mike Wallace (of “60 Minutes”) and Beth Knobel (lecturer at Fordham University) have written a primer that I’ve found helpful: Heat & Light: Advice for the Next Generation of Journalists (NY: Three Rivers, 2010). Here are 12 tips for making better interviews that lead to better articles. I’m adapting these myself, as I work:

(1) Prepare 50 (I’d say 20, depending on scope of the interview) questions arising from background research on your interviewee. Do this in order to be fully familiar with the topic. And be prepared to digress from your prepared set of questions, if more interesting lines of inquiry arise.

(2) Address the “why” and “so what” of the interviewee’s life or issues, as well as the “how, where and when.”

(3) Be sure to make your questions open-ended ones. Ones that can’t be answered with a simple yes/no. Open-ended questions are more likely to provide an interesting quotation for your article. And don’t ask questions that give the interviewee a choice, as it will give “box in” your interviewee and give them an “easy out” (64). For instance, don’t ask this: “Were you at the scene of the accident or did you arrive after it happened?” Continue reading “Hate making interviews? Here are 12 Tips from the Pros . . .”

For today’s blog: Disinterested or uninterested? Which is it and when?

The primary meaning of “disinterested” (Oxford English Dictionary) is “impartial,” or “not interested by considerations of personal advantage.” But, very surprisingly, its earliest recorded sense is “not interested” (i.e. a synonym for “uninterested”).

Using “disinterested” to mean uninterested is widespread, but the OED says it “should be avoided in careful writing.” Continue reading “Usage tip: “Disinterested” or “uninterested?” Which is it?”

Miscellaneous Usage Tips from The Chicago Manual of Style (aka The CMS). . . .

Those readers who watch Saskatoon’s television news or read the local newspaper may be especially tired of hearing or reading the following, common errors in usage. With a nod to the best guide on usage issues, The Chicago Manual of Style, I’ve been collecting these by my armchair for weeks:

1. “Off”: never put “of” after “off.” Here are two correct examples: “We got off the bus.” Or: “He jumped off the deep end.” (Not: “We got off of the bus . . .”)
2. “All right” is always two words. (Avoid “alright.”) Here is a correct example: “Was she all right, after she fell?”
3. “Altogether” versus “all together?” The first “altogether” means “wholly” or “entirely.” And “all together” refers to a unity of time or place. So the following is correct: “He was altogether drenched by the rain.” And “we were all together on Labour Day.”
4. “Amend” versus “emend.” “Amend” means “to change or add to.” (The corresponding noun is “amendment.”) And “emend” means “to correct (text, etc.).” (The corresponding noun is “emendation”). Some correct examples are these: “I amended Nick’s version of the story to include Nathalie’s ideas.”   And “I emended the error-filled manuscript to reflect Garner’s rules.”
5. And last but not least (the most annoying and pervasive errors these days): Demonstrative pronouns like “There is, there are; that is, those are; ” must use proper subject-verb agreement. So one would write: “There are five responses to his social media posting” (and NOT “There’s five responses to his social media posting . . .). And “Those are the best samples in the bunch” (and NOT “that’s the best samples in the bunch.”) This error comes from creating a colloquial contraction that obscures the need for a plural pronoun and verb. On thinking about it, you’ll see the above examples are not difficult. But the errors (especially #5) are so pervasive that even academics and etymologists now make them.A friend recommends the site www.grammarly.com over MS Word’s spell- and grammar-checkers. Do you use such online resources? Or do you think that old-fashioned reading should teach us the principles, once and for all? (The CMS remains the best place to start studying . . . )

   What are your grammatical or linguistic bugbears? Please share them with me for a future posting.