Happy Friday, everyone! Many of you will be glad to hear that I have just purchased a couple of books of misheard song lyrics (mondegreens)—I know that is favorite Friday fare for you language lovers. Today I just have something simple, though, from a mistake I heard on our local public radio station.

The newscaster was announcing a story about the riots over in Ferguson, Missouri and said, “People are rioting and alternatively looting. More in ten minutes.” Though the story is serious, I laughed. I thought, “That’s nice, people have the option to riot or to loot.” Then I realized I should do an Editor’s Corner on alternately vs. alternatively, since those two are still frequently confused word couples.

Alternatively means offering a choice between two things; alternately means taking turns or doing one thing and then another. Using this example, here two ways to translate the statement:

· “People are rioting and alternatively looting.” Some people are choosing to riot; those who aren’t rioting have decided to do some looting, instead.

· “People are rioting and alternately looting.” People are rioting, and then looting, and then rioting some more. Then maybe more looting?

I guess it depends what the rest of the story is about to determine which word is really the most accurate, but neither alternately nor alternatively seem like the right word here.

Have a good weekend, folks.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Please follow these new guidelines from the JHA Style Guide for Technical Communication and Training when using the term memo post in your documentation.

Thank you,

Jackie Solano

Technical Writer, Episys Technical Publications

Symitar®

8985 Balboa Avenue

San Diego, California 92123

Direct Line: 619-542-6711

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Good morning, folks. In case you missed this announcement on jhaToday there are some important links available to any of you who write for the company. I am copying the message here for you in its entirety:

A new version of the JHA Style Guide for Technical Communication and Training is now available on the resources page of the Editing Services SharePoint. This quarterly update includes new guidelines for font styles, terminology, time of day, and more. Please see the guide’s What’s New page for a full list of updates.

If you have any questions about the guide, contact Cathy Jones (catjones). If you have suggestions for future additions to the guide, we would love to hear them. Submit them via the suggestion page on the Editing Services SharePoint.

And now, back to my daily message, sponsored by…well, nobody actually. Since I’m talking about style guides, I’d like to share a rule that is common amongst the guides we use and the rules we follow. Specifically, the Microsoft Manual of Style says “avoid (s) to indicate both singular and plural.” What does this mean? It means when you are writing and you aren’t sure if you are telling the audience about one thing or more than one thing, don’t waffle! We don’t want wishy-washy language, so commit to the plural. It may be easier to understand if I give you some examples:

INCORRECT. WAFFLING. YUCK. Tom said he would bring the kitten(s) and maybe a (some) bearded dragon(s).

CORRECT. STRONG. YIPPEE.Tom said he would bring the kittens and maybe some bearded dragons.

INCORRECT. WISHY-WASHY. NO WAY. After you install the disk(s), wait for one (or more) minute(s).

CORRECT. COMMITTED. YEAH WAY. After you install the disks, wait for one or more minutes.

The reasons to go this route are many, but here are just a few:

· It takes the reader too long to figure out what you are trying to tell them when they have to make decisions about the amount of something and verb tense every few words (which means frustration).

· The overall message is more important than whether you are bringing one ball or two to the beach. If this is not true and precision is required, then use precision: “This includes one gumball machine, one stand, and 60 gumballs.”

· When you mix singular and plural nouns, jumble verb tenses, and sprinkle text with the letter “s” in parentheses, translators go bonkers.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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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Every now and then, my brother will leave me a phone message with his musings on language: a word he likes or a phrase he hates. The latest message from him was about the phrase “catch-as-catch-can.” This phrase got the seal of disapproval from him, as he told me that he heard it a lot at job sites. I thought I’d look into this idiom a little further to see why it might irk him.

According to Merriam-Webster, “catch-as-catch-can” means “using any available means or method”; it is synonymous with haphazard or scattered and indicates lack of foresight. As someone who has to carefully plan his projects and how they fit in with work other people are doing, I see how this attitude might get my brother’s boxers in a bunch.

But there’s another arena in which “catch-as-catch-can” is used, and I think this will make my brother laugh. Here is the Encyclopaedia Britannica definition of catch-as-catch-can wrestling:

“…basic wrestling style in which nearly all holds and tactics are permitted in both upright and ground wrestling. Rules usually forbid only actions that may injure an opponent, such as strangling, kicking, gouging, and hitting with a closed fist. The object is to force the opponent into a position in which both shoulders touch the ground at the same time. Formerly known as the Lancashire style in England, catch-as-catch-can became the most popular form of wrestling in Great Britain and the United States and, with slight modifications, was introduced into Olympic and international competition as freestyle wrestling.”

I must say, however, that I think this blogger summed it up better: “…as opposed to Greco-Roman (wrestling), where there are no leg pickups or holds below the waist, ‘Catch as catch can’ = grab whatever you like.”

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Today’s nugget focuses on the second half of the spacing standards for company templates.

Thank you,

Jackie Solano

Technical Writer, Episys Technical Publications

Symitar®

8985 Balboa Avenue

San Diego, California 92123

Direct Line: 619-542-6711

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The next two nuggets will focus on spacing standards from the JHA Style Guide for Technical Communication and Training. Please follow these guidelines when using company templates to create documentation.

Thank you,

Jackie Solano

Technical Writer, Episys Technical Publications

Symitar®

8985 Balboa Avenue

San Diego, California 92123

Direct Line: 619-542-6711

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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Happy (almost) weekend! It’s been another busy week, so I haven’t had time to read through your questions, research them, or write up answers for you. What I do have is an email that I’ve received several versions of. I am not sure of the original source, but it is an interesting and fun bit of food for thought. My apologies if it is a repeat for any of you. First some homographs (words with the same spelling and different meanings) and heteronyms (same spelling, different pronunciation, and different meanings). After that, paragraphs of word play for your reading pleasure.

Note: I didn’t fact check this email, so if you have questions about the writer’s claims and the history of guinea pigs, you’ll have to do your own research!

You think English is easy?

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

Still haven’t had enough? Check out this Wikipedia article on linguistics: Heteronyms.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
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Hello all!

I received an article from one of our co-workers which contains several phrases that are frequently misspoken or misheard. Here are a few that I’ve been asked about recently.

· For all "intents and purposes" — not for all "intensive purposes"

If you say "for all intensive purposes," you mean "for all these very thorough purposes." That doesn’t make any sense.

On the other hand, "for all intents and purposes" means "for all the reasons I did this and all the outcomes." It’s a much stronger cliché. [KC- Of course a strong cliché is still a cliché, so it is best to avoid it, when possible.]

· "By" accident — not "on" accident

While both terms have become acceptable, "by accident" is technically correct.

So you do something "on purpose" but "by accident." English is crazy.

· "Wreak" havoc — not "wreck" havoc

To "wreck" havoc means to destroy havoc, which is the exact opposite of this phrase’s meaning. When you "wreak havoc," you’re spreading chaos, anarchy, and destruction.

· I "couldn’t" care less — not I "could" care less

If you "could" care less, you’re admitting there are other, less important things in world, which takes away the sting of your comment.

By saying you "couldn’t" care less, you mean nothing else exists on the planet that matters less to you. Major burn.

· Try "to" — not try "and"

Consider this example: I’m going to try and dance. So what are you going to try while you’re dancing? Vietnamese food? A new hat?

Instead, say "I’m going to try to dance," meaning you will attempt to move your body in a rhythmic way.[KC
– I guess she saw my early days of disco—“attempt” is a key word here!]

· "Beck and call" — not "beckon call"

Having someone at your "beck and call" means they cater to your every need. "Beckon call" doesn’t even grammatically make sense. "Beckon" is a verb, which can’t modify an adjective.

For the entire list, see 15 Words and Phrases You’re Probably Saying Incorrectly.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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

Today we have a short lesson from Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, by Mignon Fogarty:

Each Versus Every

Each and every mean the same thing and are considered singular nouns, so they take singular verbs. (Note the singular verbs in the following examples.) If you want to get technical, you can use each to emphasize the individual items or people:

Each care is handled with care.

and every to emphasize the larger group:

Every car should use hybrid technology.

People often say “each and every” for emphasis, but it is redundant.

And from the photo bank we call the Internet: let’s just hope these folks aren’t great spellers. I think I’ll play it safe and skip lunch, just in case!

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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.

You should always run spell check on your documentation, but keep in mind that it will not always catch all errors. You should also review your documentation and correct your own grammatical errors.

Thank you,

Jackie Solano

Technical Writer, Episys Technical Publications

Symitar®

8985 Balboa Avenue

San Diego, California 92123

Direct Line: 619-542-6711