Editor's Corner

Hi, readers.

I really enjoy working with all the folks who submit writing to be reviewed. I interact with a lot of really smart people, and I’m always learning about various aspects of what we do and how we do it here at Jack Henry. When you send documents in to the editors, we try to be consistent in our changes so we can achieve that “One Jack Henry” look and feel we’re all striving for. One regular but very small change we might make is changing “prior to” to “before.”

You may wonder why we’d make this small, seemingly insignificant change. Well, I already mentioned the first reason—consistency. The more consistent we are in all our changes, the closer we are to a clear One Jack Henry voice. We try to use the simplest, most direct phrasing. And even though it’s only one word shorter, before is simpler and more direct.

And that leads to the second reason: prior to is a two-word phrase and before is a single word. In our line of work and in our documentation, we try to use the fewest words we can while still being absolutely clear and concise. There are many similar examples of short phrases that can be revised to a one-word phrase (“in order to” becomes “to,” “a majority of” becomes "most,” “at a later date” becomes “later”), and believe me, these “deadwood phrases” as they’re known, can add up in a document and make it feel very stodgy.

There is also a grammar-related justification for using before. Grammar purists say that we should not use prior to because prior means earlier and you wouldn’t say earlier to; ergo, you should not say prior to.

And the final justification comes from Merriam-Webster (our dictionary of choice). They say that prior to is often thought of as “pompous or affected,” which I think is why some folks use it—they believe it is more professional. For our purposes, however, before does the trick. It’s shorter, more direct, and definitely grammatically correct.

Here are a few sample sentences to clarify:

If you have any questions, you know where to find me. Go on now, have a lovely day.

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Education Resources (sharepoint.com)

About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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