Editor's Corner

This isn’t something you’re likely to see in our technical documentation, but I enjoyed this article from our local paper and thought I’d share a portion of it with you. It is from Richard Lederer’s column in the San Diego Union Tribune on October 3, 2015. The topic of the day is sonnets.

The Elizabethan age was the age of the sonnet. It was during that period that this compact, highly structured poetic form landed in England and flourished, with William Shakespeare becoming its most luminous practitioner.

Robert Frost once said that writing poetry without rhyme or meter is “like playing tennis without a net.” Writers have long been fascinated by fixed poetic forms that impose a rigorous discipline, whose rhythmical patterns, regular rhyme schemes and limited number of lines force meticulous shaping of material. The Japanese, for example, love to write ultra-brief haikus, cobbled from only 17 carefully chosen syllables. In English, the sonnet has been the most popular and durable short poetic form.

The English, or Shakespearean, sonnet consists of 14 lines of iambic pentameter (five “feet” of unstressed-then-stressed syllables) broken into three quatrains (four-line units) and a couplet and cast in a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. The three quatrains develop an idea or theme, and the final couplet puts forth a conclusion, a summary, an application, a narrowing of focus or even a surprise reversal.

The sonnet has endured and prevailed because it exerts tremendous pressure per square syllable and accomplishes a great deal in a small space. The compactness of the form radiates pleasure not for itself but for what it can do to shape and share the hum and buzz of life. Here’s a poem I have composed for the evening of Celebrity Sonnets:

A Sonnet about Sonnets

Our Bard did not invent the stately sonnet.

The hundred fifty-four in his collection

Remade the vessel, thus improved upon it

And lit its form and function with perfection.

He pours his thoughts on life and death and time

Into three quatrains and a couplet brief.

To a youth fair and lady dark, in rhyme,

He sings of lust and love and joy and grief.

To think that God once made a man like him.

In such a miracle we all rejoice.

His words fly up and reach a spatial rim.

His sonnet trove proclaims his timeless voice.

Across four centuries he calls us still —

Our Bard, our Shakespeare, our own living Will.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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Here’s an interesting answer about an oft-used phrase. This exchange is from World Wide Words:

Keep Your Eyes Peeled

Q. Can you enlighten me on the origin of the expression keep your eyes peeled or pealed?

A. It’s spelled peeled, as in peeling an apple. It derives from an old verb pill, “to plunder,” which is the root of our modern word pillage. It came to us from the Latin root pilare, meaning “to take the hair off, pluck” (closely connected with our depilate), but which also had the figurative meaning of “plunder, cheat,” almost exactly the same as the figurative meaning of our modern verbs fleece or pluck. From about the 17th century on, pill was commonly spelt peel and took on the sense of “to remove or strip” in the weakened sense of removing an outer covering, such as a fruit. The figurative sense of keeping alert, by removing any covering of the eye that might impede vision, seems to have appeared in the United States about 1850.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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Yesterday I shared the etymology of the word fit. Today, I want to share some common expressions. These are from the same article on the Daily Writing Tips website.

· to have a fit
to become upset about something

Ex. Don’t have a fit; I’ll make your sandwich in a minute.

· hissy fit
an outburst of temper, a tantrum. Hissy may be a shortening of hysterical. [dbb: As a child, I was sternly warned against this by my southern parents. But they couldn’t control Aunt Ida as easily.]

Ex. Aunt Ida is having a hissy fit; somebody broke her garden gnome.

· survival of the fittest
The expression was coined by Herbert Spencer in reference to the Darwinian theory that animals best-adapted to an environment continue to reproduce and evolve. In this context, “the fit” are those animals suited to succeed. It is frequently used figuratively.

Ex. In cable, it’s survival of the fittest as channels drop from the bundle.

· in fits and starts
spasmodically; at irregular intervals.

Ex. He’s been cleaning the garage in fits and starts.

· fit to be tied
extremely angry

Ex. When Father saw someone had left the gate open, he was fit to be tied. [dbb: My grandmother often said she was fit to be tied. And there were plenty of times (when I had to share a room with her) that I dreamed of tying her up.]

· fighting fit
at the peak of one’s physical form

Ex. Papiss Cisse says he’s fighting fit to help lead the charge against Queens Park Rangers.

· fit as a fiddle
in good health; in good physical condition

Ex. After making a full recovery from his plane crash, Harrison Ford, 72, was once again seen looking fit as a fiddle as he visited his office in Brentwood.

Note: Before the 19th century, the expressions “fit as a fiddle” and “fine as a fiddle” meant “appropriate for the occasion.”

· to fit in (1)
to belong, to assimilate well

Ex. The pledge master warned the freshmen that if they didn’t like partying, they would not fit in.

· to fit in (2)
to find time for

Ex. I’ll check my calendar and try to fit you in on Friday.

· if the shoe fits
This is a shortening of “If the shoe fits, you must wear it.” The expression usually occurs as an unsympathetic response.

Ex. GEORGE: Just because I forgot her birthday, she says I don’t really care about her.
ALICE: If the shoe fits…
The unexpressed thought is “If what she says is true, admit it.”

· to fit like a glove
to fit perfectly

Ex. That new job fits her like a glove.

· to fit the bill
to correspond to certain requirements

Ex. With your background in teaching, nursing, and music, you fit the bill for the job of camp musical director.

Enjoy your day. I hope it’s hissy-fit-free.

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®

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

Good morning, everyone.

I was out enjoying the beautiful San Diego sunshine a few days ago, and my sense of peacefulness was interrupted by a young child throwing a fit. Let’s ignore the fact that Skyler’s parents were the “just ignore him and he’ll probably stop” kind of parents. Instead, let’s talk about the etymology of the very versatile word fit.

I gathered this information from the Daily Writing Tips website.

The little word fit has multiple functions and occurs in numerous expressions.

In Middle English, the noun fit denoted an intense experience that could be painful, dangerous, or exciting.

By the 16th century, a fit could denote a paroxysm, or the recurrent attack of an ailment.

In the 17th century fit took on the meaning of a sudden seizure with loss of consciousness, or accompanied with convulsions.

By the 19th century, fit was used in expressions of exaggeration such as “to throw a fit” in the sense of “to fly into a rage.”

Because fits are of limited duration, the noun fit also took on the sense of a limited, usually brief, period of time: “We’ve had a fit of wet weather.”

Fit also functions as an adjective: a synonym for appropriate or well-suited. For example, a man might be “fit for a certain job,” or a certain type of food might be “fit for an invalid.” Fit can also mean inclined or disposed. A tired person might be “fit to collapse.” An angry person might be “fit to be tied.” A child trying to keep a secret might be “fit to burst.”

Fit (and fitting) also applies to social behavior. In Gone With the Wind, the character Mammy uses the word in this sense when she reprimands Scarlett for unladylike behavior: “It ain’t fittin; it just ain’t fittin’.”

In the 19th century, fit took on the meaning “in good health” or “in good physical condition.” People go to the gym “to get fit.”

As a verb, in addition to meanings related to those mentioned, fit can mean “to be of the right shape and size.”

Tomorrow I have some information about common expressions that include the word fit. Stay tuned!

Donna Bradley Burcher | Senior Technical Editor | Symitar®

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

I was just looking over some notes from my trip to New York and I forgot to tell you about a new word I learned: scratchiti. You can imagine what it is—instead of spray-painted graffiti in the alleys or on the walls, scratchiti is etched carvings into hard surfaces.

According to the Urban Dictionary, here is a brief description of scratchiti:

Considered by many a low form of graffiti as the difficult etching leaves little room for artistic design, scratchiti is often simply block-lettered tags used to promote a particular urban artist or claim territory, or amateur copycat work.

Tools employed in the craft are generally keys, knives, and razorblades, but lava rocks available at hardware stores, carbide tipped drill bits, and spark plugs have been reported as tools of choice as well.

I don’t see any art to it—I think the description is probably as good as it gets. It usually looks like someone was trying to escape from the subway car or scratch their way through a bus window. I did think it was worth sharing, though.

Happy (almost) weekend!

Manhattan view from the Brooklyn Bridge

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Hello, dear readers!

It seems that autumn is finally upon us; it’s time to get out your favorite soup recipe, some squash, or something involving pumpkin pie spices. As I hunt for something special to cook for Halloween, I haven’t found any recipes, but I’ve discovered bits and pieces of questions in my editing folders that are ripe for the picking.

Today’s topic is directional words.

What do I mean by directional words? In this case, I’m talking about adverbs: toward, forward, backward, etc. Some of the most popular questions I get from folks are: Which is appropriate? Forward or forwards? Backward or backwards?

Even though you will hear both used (“It’s towards Katie’s house.” “They went downward at the fork in the trail.” “She’s heading westward, towards the sun.”) the preferred spelling for these words in the United States is without the “s.” So to be safe in your writing, use:

· backward

· downward

· eastward

· inward

· northward

· outward

· toward

· Etc.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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What is a metonym?

A metonym is a word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. For example, Washington is a metonym for the federal government of the United States. I’ve included a few metonyms below for you. For more, see the Wikipedia sites: metonyms and metonymy.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Symitar Documentation Services

Over the years, we’ve gone through changes in the Jack Henry and Symitar style guides as far as Latin expressions go. We’ve used i.e. instead of “in other words” or “that is”; we’ve used e.g. instead of “for example.” I always thought these abbreviations were straight forward, but according to many technical writing resources, it is better to avoid the Latin and use English instead.

The primary reasoning is that Latin expressions are harder to translate. This goes hand-in-hand with writing in plain English, talking directly to the audience, avoiding passive voice, and other lessons we revisit often.

Now that I’ve told you to avoid Latin expressions, I will share some of the more familiar ones with you. This is just a sampling, with definitions from Merriam-Webster.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

Symitar Documentation Services

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Today I am sharing some tips from grammarly.com on how to improve your business writing.

· Avoid wordy phrases and jargon. Instead, be clear and straightforward by using plain English so your audience can quickly understand your message.

· Use a consistent style (language, spelling, formatting, and punctuation) so your audience focuses on the message and are not distracted, for example, by inconsistent formatting.

· Write in a less formal conversational style.

[JS: Be careful with this tip. There are differences between spoken and written English. Use plain English so you do not sound rigid or like a robot.]

· Review your writing. Proofreading and editing are important; this is an opportunity to clarify your writing and omit careless or possibly embarrassing errors.

People are busy and they want you to get to the point as quickly and as clearly as possible. Keep these tips in mind when writing any type of business document.

On an unrelated note, I hope your Monday is not filled with meetings like this:

Thank you,

Jackie Solano | Technical Editor | Symitar®

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

Symitar Documentation Services

It’s been a couple of months since I provided you with misheard song lyrics (a.k.a. mondegreens) from Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza, by Charles Grosvenor Jr.

Let’s start the weekend off right!

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.
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is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.