Editor's Corner

When the Powerball® jackpot reached a billion dollars, people were excited. But French- and Spanish-speakers might have been extra excited.

Why? Because in French and Spanish (and, until recently, British English), a billion isn’t 1,000,000,000; it’s 1,000,000,000,000—a trillion in American English.

Winning a billion dollars would make you the 537th-richest person in the United States. Winning a trillion dollars would make you the richest person in the world—11 times as rich as Bill Gates.

For large numbers, America uses what’s called the short scale numbering system. Our system was modeled on the French system, but France switched to the British (long scale) system about the same time Britain switched to the American system.

This chart shows some large numbers and their names in the short and long scales.

Currently, the long scale is used in continental Europe and most French-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-speaking countries (except Brazil). The short scale is used in most English- and Arabic-speaking countries and Brazil.

If you think this sounds confusing, you’re not alone. In fact, the National Institute of Standards and Technology advises, "Because the names of numbers 10^9 and larger are not uniform worldwide, it is best that they be avoided altogether."

Fortunately (or unfortunately, for us Powerball players), most of us don’t deal with numbers that large very often.

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

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Good morning! Today I have an article for you, but first I would like to introduce you to our newest editor, Ben Ritter. Ben has been with us for a few months now and it is time to initiate him into the Editor’s Corner with a huzzah and hurrah! Ben graduated from the University of California, Irvine, majoring in English and minoring in Film & Media Studies. Ben was the editor-in-chief of his college newspaper, a book editor, and a QA tester in his life before Symitar. I’m happy to have him as part of the Kara, Donna, and Jackie editing team!

Now, on to my blurb for today:

The other evening I was catching up on Downton Abbey and watching Lady Violet glide through the mansion while casually dropping insults upon people. At one point she referred to someone as “jejune” and I had no idea what that meant, so I thought I’d check up on the Dowager Countess of Grantham’s vocabulary.

jejune

1. naive, simplistic, and superficial.
2. (of ideas or writings) dry and uninteresting.

Etymology:

Early 17th century: from Latin jejunus ‘fasting, barren.’ The original sense was ‘without food,’ hence ‘not intellectually nourishing.’

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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This is a portion of an article from Daily Writing Tips that I thought I should pass along, since here at Jack Henry we like honoring our founder with terms about “jack.”

I’ve cut this down a little (and removed some of the naughty words) to provide a work-friendly read. For the full article, click here: If You Don’t Know Jack, You’re a Jackwagon.

A recent news article prompted me to research the use of jack as a catch-all term…

All usages of jack in English, it turns out, derive from the proper name Jack, a variant of the common names John (from English, but ultimately derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan, also the source of the name Jonathan) and Jacques (the latter of which, from France, is the origin of the word jacket). The ubiquity of these names in medieval England resulted in its use as a general term of address for the common man. (In Middle English, it was spelled various ways with an e at the end and pronounced “Jackie,” hence the diminutive form of the nickname.)

The Scots equivalent, Jock, was the origin of the word jockey, used to describe someone who rides or drives a horse in a race or, by extension, operates a vehicle or a tool (as in “disk jockey,” the origin of the entertainment term DJ, also spelled deejay). To jockey, on the analogy of a jockey’s riding strategy, is to maneuver or negotiate for advantage.

From the usage of Jack as a generic name stems such terms as lumberjack for a worker who cuts trees down and steeplejack for someone specializing in working on tall structures, jack-of-all-trades, referring to a person who is skilled at multiple types of jobs or tasks, and jack-o’-lantern (“jack-of-the-lantern,” originally synonymous with will-o’-the-wisp) and jack-in-the-box, the name for a toy and a carved pumpkin lit from within respectively, as well as “Jack Frost” as a personification of wintry cold and “Jack the Ripper” as a nickname for a notorious serial killer in Victorian London. (Jack-in-the-box was originally slang for a con man who switched out a full box for an empty one, and it acquired numerous other senses, too.)

The name also became associated with sailors in the designation “Jack Tar,” thanks to the fact that men of the sea generally had a scent of tar about them. Fictional characters given the Everyman appellation in tales and nursery rhymes include the heroes in “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Jack the Giant Killer” and personages in “Jack Sprat” and “Jack and Jill.”

Jack was also applied to the lowest-ranking face cards in a deck of playing cards (which is the origin of jackpot, meaning “a prize,” and hence jack, a slang term for money) and to various small objects, including flags (as in “Union Jack”) and the game of jacks and its playing pieces.

Jack Henry & Jerry Hall

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

How do you know when Y is a vowel and when it is a consonant?

In 1983, a group named Ebn Ozn had a hit song about vowels. Here’s a little something about vowels from page 36 of The Grammar Devotional (by Mignon Fogarty) that you might find more helpful than their song, but probably not as funny or as danceable.

Sometimes Y

Many people learned that the English vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y…

The reason for the “sometimes y” qualifier is that the letter y can be both a vowel and a consonant—it depends on the sound that y represents in the word. When y sounds like a vowel, it’s a vowel; when it sounds like a consonant, it’s a consonant.

Y is a vowel in mystery, family, and dynamo.

Y is a consonant in yolk and beyond.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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Good morning, all!

I’ve talked about a few other word combinations in my recent posts, and those conversations sparked a reader to make this statement: I don’t know when to use good and when to use well.

You are not alone, mystery reader, and you get a gold star for caring! Let me see if I can provide an easy answer.

Good is an adjective, and adjectives modify nouns.(The nouns below are in bold font.)

· They ate a good meal.

· She felt that James was a good person.

· My phone can take a good picture.

· The temperature tomorrow should be good.

Well is an adverb, and adverbs usually modify verbs, but they can also modify adjectives or other adverbs. In the examples below, well modifies several different verbs (the verbs are in bold font).

· We all want to do well on our annual appraisals.

· Gretchen can play the guitar well.

· Ricardo sings very well. [dbb – In this sentence,
very is an adverb too. Very modifies the adverb well.]

And one more all-encompassing example that will help you to see how good and well are used together:

· Timmy did well on the test; his grade should be good.

I hope that clears things up for you, but my head’s spinning. I don’t feel so well.

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

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Dear Editrix,

The other day you did a quiz on the word “welcome.” I enjoyed that, but I am wondering about the phrase, “you’re welcome.” I see it misspelled or misused a lot, and I thought maybe you could discuss it a little.

Sincerely,

Mindful in Monett

Dear Mindful,

You are all too correct—your and you’re are often confused. Most commonly, I’ll see the response to “thank you” written as “your welcome.” In that case, your is incorrect because your is a possessive pronoun. Instead, the response to “thank you” should be “you are welcome,” or you can use the shortened contraction form “you’re welcome.”

Hopefully, we will now see less of this mistake.

Yours truly,

Editrix

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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Today I have another nugget of information for you from The Grammar Devotional by Mignon Fogarty. The topic, from p. 11 of her book, is about email and letter salutations.

Hi Versus Dear

Technically, those email messages you write should begin Hi, John—with a comma after Hi.

You see, Hi, John is different from Dear John because hi and dear are not the same kind of word. Hi is an interjection just like wow and ugh, and dear is an adjective that modifies John.

In Hi, John you are directly addressing John, which means the punctuation rules of direct address, apply. From a comma-rules standpoint, Hi, John is no different from Thanks for coming, John or Wow, John, what were you thinking? You can end Hi, John with a period or, if you continue the sentence, a comma.

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
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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 another nugget of information for you from The Grammar Devotional by Mignon Fogarty. The topic, from p. 11 of her book, is about email and letter salutations.

Hi Versus Dear

Technically, those email messages you write should begin Hi, John—with a comma after Hi.

You see, Hi, John is different from Dear John because hi and dear are not the same kind of word. Hi is an interjection just like wow and ugh, and dear is an adjective that modifies John.

In Hi, John you are directly addressing John, which means the punctuation rules of direct address, apply. From a comma-rules standpoint, Hi, John is no different from Thanks for coming, John or Wow, John, what were you thinking? You can end Hi, John with a period or, if you continue the sentence, a comma.

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,
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I’m sure some of you wonder why I send you emails every day, especially if your manager signed you up under duress. Today, I want to take a minute to remind you of why grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and writing well is important.

Even if you are not a writer, chances are that you are required to write for your job. Whether you write emails to clients, business designs, product descriptions, programming notes, user documentation, articles, warnings, marketing campaigns, or something else, what you say and how you say it is important. When you communicate clearly, you are generally viewed as being more credible and more capable of doing your job. This is particularly important when writing to clients.

You may think that reviewing or relearning the rules of writing well are a waste of your time. I would argue that no matter what your position is here, spending 5–10 minutes a day to improve your communication is worth it.

Choosing your words carefully, proofreading your writing, and using proper grammar and punctuation will only help you communicate better, stronger, and faster at work. Try to make a little time each day to improve and polish what you write.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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Dear Editrix,

I’m wondering about the two words further and farther. Do they mean the same thing? Is further farther away? I’m confused.

Further Father

Dear Father,

Generally, we use this rule:

· Farther is for physical distance, such as “John’s house is farther from school than it is from the public pool.” (Just think about “far” measuring distance.)

· Further is used more for figurative distance, such as, “If you take this argument any further, I will not make dinner.” (Just think about “fur” having nothing to do with distance or anything else in this conversation, unless you are talking about figurative or metaphorical puppies.)

Sometimes, it could be both, so your choice is okay either way. For example:

· I am further along in the assignment than I thought I would be.

· I am farther along in this assignment than you are—I’m on page 10 and you’re only on page 3.

For difficult moments where you aren’t sure if it is physical or figurative distance, it is safer to use further, since farther is restricted to distance only.

Sincerely,

Editrix

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
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