Editor's Corner

The Chicago Manual of Style is up to its usual fun and games this month. Here are a few questions and answers from their monthly column, that relate to questions I’ve heard (or problems I’ve seen) in the office. Enjoy!

Q. Is a question mark called for in the following sentence? “I wonder when it will stop raining.” I believe that it is a statement and therefore a period is the required punctuation, but I see similar sentences with a question mark so often.

A. No question mark is needed, since “I wonder” is a statement, not a question.

Q. Does half need a hyphen when modifying a verb? For example, “He half listened to her story” or “She half walked, half ran.”

A. No hyphen—half may be treated like other adverbs. He barely listened; he half listened. She quickly walked; she half walked.

Q. This question has probably been asked before, but at work we are updating the human resources manual and nobody seems to know the answer. Is the apostrophe necessary in “two weeks’ notice” and “three days’ sick leave”? We will really appreciate your advice.

A. Yes, it has been asked before! Luckily for you, we are the soul of patience. The apostrophe is necessary, since those phrases express a type of possessive.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

As promised, I spent my weekend searching for a dog to rescue and I kept my word! Some of you asked for a picture, so here his is: meet Harvey!

As far as non-personal information, I’d like to share two dog-related phrases and their meanings with you: the tail wagging the dog and dog days, as explained on the Grammarist website.

Tail Wagging the Dog

The tail wagging the dog describes a situation in which the thing which should be driven by circumstances instead is the thing driving the circumstances, it is a role-reversal. In modern times, an example would be the phenomenon of a news outlet reporting about an unimportant situation so often and so fervently that the situation becomes important, instead of the news outlet scheduling its reportage around situations that are inherently important. The idiom the tail wagging the dog seems to have originated in the United States in the 1870s. According to Google Ngram, the popularity of the idiom tail wagging the dog has risen steadily since then. A popular movie about political manipulation of the news media debuted in 1997, Wag the Dog.

Dog Days

The idiom dog days traditionally refers to the hottest period of the late summer. It has a long and interesting history. The Romans referred to the late-summer period as dies caniculares, literally meaning Dog Star days, out of the belief that the summer heat was caused by the proximity of the star Sirius (the brightest star and part of the Canis Major—Large Dog—constellation) to the sun during these months. This belief may have come from the Greeks or Egyptians.

For the Romans, the dog days fell between July 24 and August 24. This is still roughly the period denoted by dog days in modern use, but the term is often extended to mean either the late summer generally, any waning stage, or any period of stagnation or languid activity.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Good morning! I’ve been out of the office for the last couple of weeks, but before I left, I shared words coined by two famous authors: Charles Dickens and Samuel Coleridge. At the request of my friend, Chris W., today I’m sharing some whimsical words coined by novelist Lewis Carroll (author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and many wonderful stories and poems).

I found these whimsical words and their definitions in THE WEEK online magazine. I have shortened some of the lengthy descriptions, but if you want to see the full descriptions along with examples of the words in use, click this link. Enjoy!

· boojum
The boojum is "a particularly dangerous variety of snark," an imaginary creature of Carroll’s invention. The word boojum has inspired the naming of everything from a species of tree, native to Baja California, Mexico…to a supersonic cruise missile…to a geometric pattern sometimes observed on the surface of superfluid helium-3…

· chortle
To chortle means "to exclaim exultingly, with a noisy chuckle." According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), Carroll coined the word as a blend of chuckle and snort.

· frabjous
Frabjous means "great, wonderful, fabulous," and is a blend of either fabulous and joyous, or fair and joyous. "O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" cries the narrator of The Jabberwocky upon learning that the Jabberwock has been slain.

· galumph
Galumph means "to move heavily and clumsily," and is a blend of gallop and triumph.

· jabberwocky
The Jabberwocky is "a nonsensical poem that appears in Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll…Jabberwocky came to mean "nonsensical speech or writing" around 1908, says the OED.

· mimsy
Mimsy was coined by Lewis Carroll in 1855 as a blend of miserable and flimsy. According to the OED, by 1880 mimsy also came to mean, in British English, "prim; careful; affected; feeble, weak, lightweight."

· portmanteau word
A portmanteau word is "a word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words." A portmanteau is "a case used in journeying for containing clothing," and comes from the French porter, "to carry," plus manteau, "cloak." Carroll coined portmanteau in 1882 based on the idea of "two meanings packed up into one word," says the Online Etymology Dictionary.

· slithy
In 1855, Carroll combined slimy and lithe to form this nonce word. However, slithy as a variation of sleathy, "slovenly, careless," has been around since 1622, says the OED.

· snark
Snark referring to "an imaginary animal" was coined by Carroll in 1876 in his poem, The Hunting of the Snark, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. In the 1950s, snark was the "name of a type of U.S. cruise missile and in 1980s of a type of sailboat." The word snark also has the meaning of "to snore; to snort," which originated about 10 years before Carroll’s imaginary animal, according to the OED. This gave rise to snarky, "rudely sarcastic or disrespectful; snide," or "irritable or short-tempered; irascible," around 1906, which gives us snark’s modern meaning of "snide remarks."

· vorpal
Vorpal meaning "sharp or deadly" was coined by Carroll in 1871. In the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, the vorpal sword is a sword "capable of decapitation, specifically through magical means," which aligns with the plot of The Jabberwocky: "One, two! One, two! And through and through / The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! / He left it dead, and with its head / He went galumphing back."

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123 | Ph. 619.278.0432 | Extension: 765432

Symitar Technical Publications Writing and Editing Requests

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Tomorrow, March 4, is National Grammar Day. While my plan is to celebrate by going to visit a dog adoption event and check out the available playmates for my dog Bella, other people have some more exciting things they want to share with you. Mignon Fogarty, the original Grammar Girl, suggests you enter the Grammar Day Haiku Contest. She also provides links to some of the most frequently asked questions about which word to use. Some of these descriptions are lengthy, so I’m just providing the links in case you are interested.

· Affect versus effect

· Lay versus lie

· Sit versus set

· Who versus whom

· Toward versus towards

Whatever you decide to do for your weekend, I hope it is enjoyable!

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Today I’ll share some of the technology-related terms recently added to Merriam-Webster.

net neutrality: the idea, principle, or requirement that internet service providers should or must treat all internet data as the same regardless of its kind, source, or destination

abandonware: software that is no longer sold or supported by its creator

botnet: a network of computers that have been linked together by malware

binge-watch: to watch many or all episodes (of a TV series) in rapid succession

photobomb: to move into the frame of a photograph as it is being taken as a joke or prank

NSFW (abbreviation):not safe for work; not suitable for work—used to warn someone that a website, email attachment, etc., is not suitable for viewing in most places of employment

listicles:an article consisting of a series of items presented as a list

And the word ghost now includes this definition:

ghost: to abruptly cut off all contact with someone (such as a former romantic partner) by no longer accepting or responding to phone calls, instant messages, etc.

Jackie Solano | Technical Editor | Symitar®

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123 | Ph. 619.542.6711 | Extension: 766711

Symitar Documentation Services

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

When we were kids, my mom often took us to the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle.

Volunteer Park Conservatory, Seattle, Washington

Later in life, I was referring to a conservatory, but then I had that sinking feeling that I was using the wrong word. Isn’t a conservatory a place where music is played? Isn’t it a room in the game Clue where you might be murdered with a candlestick or lead pipe?

Well, I received one of my weekly newsletters on this exact topic, so I’d like to share the answers with you from the Grammarist.

Conservatory, solarium or sunroom

The words conservatory, solarium, and sunroom are often used interchangeably, though there are slight differences in meaning. We will look at the difference between conservatory, solarium, and sunroom, where the terms come from and some examples…

A conservatory is a room or small outbuilding built with glass walls and a glass roof in order to let in great amounts of sunlight. A conservatory is primarily built for horticultural purposes, to grow tropical plants in a climate that is not tropical or to grow plants and vegetables out of season. In North America, the word conservatory is also used to describe a college that teaches music or other arts. The plural form is conservatories.

A solarium is also a room with glass windows and sometimes a glass roof built in order to let in great amounts of sunlight. A solarium is built as a recreation area, a place for people to enjoy the sun on cold days. Solariums were common features in tuberculosis sanatoriums. The plural of solarium may be rendered as either solariums or solaria.

Solarium

Sunroom is a North American word that describes a room that has large windows in order to allow the sun to shine in. Sunrooms are also recreation areas, often converted porches. The plural is sunrooms. Remember, the difference between a conservatory and a solarium is the purpose for which it is used. A sunroom differs from a conservatory and a solarium in that it is simply a room with large windows, not a structure made of glass.

Sunroom

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Dear Editrix,

Why is the term copycat? Cats don’t copy anything; they just sit and stare. Dogs try to copy. Why isn’t the term copydog?

Thanks!

Linda T.

Dear Linda,

I thought this might be easy to research, but I had a tough time finding any in-depth explanations. Some people said it should be copy-monkey because of the phrase “monkey see, monkey do.” One site said that the phrase has been in use since 1896, in the book The Country of Pointed Firs, by Sarah Orne Jewett.

Here is Merriam-Webster’s official definition of copycat:

1: one who imitates or adopts the behavior or practice of another

2: an imitative act or product — often used before another noun <copycat board games>

According to another scrap of information, the writer says the expression may come from the habits of kittens and how they imitate the actions of their mothers. Watch this, and you be the judge!

Copycat and copykitten

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Way back in the day, maybe five or six years ago, I wrote a series of articles on different homonyms (words pronounced the same way, but with different definitions and spellings). I am pretty sure I didn’t cover these three, so I thought I’d share this article from the Grammarist with you.

Coal, Cole, and Kohl

Coal is a rock that is mined from underground and used as a combustible fuel. The word coal is also used to describe the glowing pieces of wood that burn in a fire, a shortened form of the word charcoal. The word coal is derived from the Old English word col which meant charcoal or a live coal.

Cole is a type of cabbage. Most English speakers are familiar with the word coleslaw, which is a type of salad made of raw shredded cabbage. The word cole is derived from the Old English word crawel which means cabbage. [KC – Cole was also the name of a boy I had a crush on in the sixth grade. Luckily, he
did not smell like cabbage.]

Kohl is a black powder that is usually used as eye makeup. Kohl was known to have been used in Ancient Egypt, and most probably before that time. It is said that kohl was originally used in that desert environment in order to repel flies and cut glare from the sun. It is probably one of the oldest cosmetics still in use today. The word kohl is derived from the Arabic word kuhl.

Examples

Officials said that this was being done “consciously” to project Jharkhand as a state that had to offer much more than coal mining or heavy industries, a perception created for the state over the years. (The Indian Express)

Among bacteria, fungi and insects, there are plenty of organisms eager to tear into broccoli, cabbage, and their cole crop cousins. (Lancaster Farming)

Life was so much simpler back in the days when our eye makeup consisted of bucketloads of black kohl and *maybe* one or two brown shades. (Look Magazine)

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Today I have a great expression from one of you that is something you might say when you’re extremely happy: “Grinning like a possum eating a sweet potato.” I’ve seen many a possum in my time, but they always look more scary than smiley. I have never, however, seen a possum eating a sweet potato. While I was researching this idiom, I found a list of nine other “lively Southern expressions” from the Huffington Post that I thought you might enjoy. I have to admit that several of you mentioned the grasshopper, molasses, and the cat on the hot tin roof in your submissions, too!

“All hat no cattle”
Imagine the would-be ranching magnate, flush with cash earned elsewhere, who blows into town with a ten-gallon lid, a fresh pair of boots — and a much too loud mouth.

“Fine as frog’s hair split four ways”
What’s that? You’ve never seen hair on a frog? Exactly. Split it four ways and it becomes awfully fine indeed.

“Drunker than Cooter Brown”
As legend has it, Cooter Brown was a man who did not see fit to take up with either side during the Civil War, and so remained so staggeringly drunk throughout the entire conflict that he avoided conscription.

“Grinning like a possum eating a sweet potato”
For a scavenger accustomed to a diet of bugs, slugs, and roadkill, having a fat, juicy sweet potato to gorge on is like winning the lottery.

“Happy as a dead pig in the sunshine”
Deceptively complex, this one contains a built-in lesson in postmortem porcine physiology. As a dead pig’s body lies out in the sunshine, see, its lips begin to pull back from its teeth, creating the illusion of a wide grin. The expression describes a similarly oblivious (though quite alive) person who smiles away when in reality things aren’t going so hot.

“Knee-high to a grasshopper”
Most often used to denote growth, as in: “I haven’t seen you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper!”

“Slower than molasses running uphill in the winter”
Things don’t get much slower than molasses. Uphill in winter? You get the picture.

“Ran like a scalded haint”
The opposite meaning of the previous phrase. A haint, in old Southern terminology, is a ghost, and according to tradition, scalding one will send it running right quick.

“Like a cat on a hot tin roof”
Cats are jumpy enough in a comfortable living room. The expression describes someone in an extreme state of upset and anxiety, and, of course, it was used by Tennessee Williams as the title of his Pulitzer-winning 1955 play.

“Enough money to burn a wet mule”
Why a person might choose to burn a soaking wet thousand-pound mule is anybody’s guess, but the expression was made famous (in some circles) when legendary Louisiana governor Huey Long used it in reference to deep-pocketed nemesis Standard Oil.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Special Character Keys

Excluding the number keys, there are 11 special character keys on a standard keyboard:

· the Grave Accent key (`)

· the Hyphen key (–) or the Minus Sign key (–)

· the Equals Sign key (=)

· the Open Bracket key ([)

· the Backslash key ()

· the Semicolon key (;)

· the Quotation Mark key (‘)

· the Comma key (,)

· the Period key (.)

· the Forward Slash key (/)

The IBM Style Guide gives us the following rule for writing about special character keys:

“If a key has a symbol printed on it, at first reference, use the descriptive name of the key followed by the symbol in parentheses. For later references, you can use only the symbol if no ambiguity or confusion would result.”

Example: To move to the next page, press the Backslash key (). Press again.

However, the Microsoft® Manual of Style lists five special character names that should always be spelled out:

“Because special characters could be confused with an action (such as +) or be difficult to see, always spell out the following special character names: Plus Sign, Minus Sign, Hyphen, Period, and Comma.”

Next Time

When I started writing about keyboards, I thought that two posts would be enough to describe all 104 keys. Boy, was I wrong!

In my next post, I’ll explain how to combine modifier keys with special character keys. Then I’ll finish with a discussion of function keys, cursor keys, and command keys. Stay tuned.

Ben Ritter | Technical Editor | Symitar®
8985 Balboa Avenue | San Diego, CA 92123
619-682-3391 | or ext. 763391 | www.Symitar.com

Symitar Documentation Services

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.