Editor's Corner

I’ve had at least three requests asking me to explain the difference between idea and ideal and honestly, they’ve left me scratching my head a little…until I read this article from Daily Writing Tips. Since I haven’t heard this mistake in this here part of the country, it never occurred to me that it might be regional. Here is the article in its entirety:

Idea and Ideal

By Maeve Maddox

It may be a regionalism, but many speakers say or write ideal when they mean idea. For example:

· I have an ideal for next year’s Christmas: Move the date.

· Comic Silverman has an ideal for ending world hunger: Sell the Vatican.

· Do you have any ideals for how I can ease my fear of flying?

The noun idea can be used with philosophical connotations, but as the word is used in ordinary conversation, it usually means “the picture or notion of something formed in the mind.” Here are some correct uses of idea:

· I have an idea for next year’s Christmas: Move the date.

· Comic Silverman has an idea for ending world hunger: Sell the Vatican.

· Do you have any ideas for how I can ease my fear of flying?

· I have an idea; let’s go to the movies.

· An inventor begins with an idea of the thing to be made.

· He wants to visit Paris, but the idea of flying makes him hesitate.

As a noun, ideal means “a person or thing regarded as a perfect example or representative”:

· James Garner was the ideal of a Hollywood leading man with thick black hair, square jaw, perfect teeth, and a charming smile.

· The Grace Project: Transforming Our Ideal of Female Beauty

The noun ideal is also an antonym of real used as an abstract noun:

· In politics as in personal matters, individuals must come to terms with the disparity between the ideal and the real.

· The notion of an ideal, of something, which for whatever reason, ought to be, as distinguished from what is. –J. Grote

Ideal used as an adjective does not attract the misuse that haunts ideal as a noun. In the following examples ideal means, “regarded as perfect or supremely excellent in its kind”:

· Bond girl Bérénice Marlohe talks about her ideal man

· What’s the ideal breed for a family dog?

· In an ideal world, prime ministers would indeed put great thought and effort into establishing a highly skilled, intellectually impressive, thoughtful and engaged Senate. But it’s not an ideal world.

Ideal can also mean “existing only in idea; not real, actual, or practical”:

· Administrators must compromise between practical and ideal solutions.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Hi folks,

Rather than skip the Editor’s Corner today because we’re swamped, I am providing a link to a map you may find interesting. (Thank you, Mr. Fauset!)

This map shows the most common language spoken in each state—after English and Spanish. There are a few caveats mentioned in the introduction, but the results are interesting and somewhat surprising. Click the link below to check it out!

What Language Does Your State Speak?

Happy Friday!

Kara

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Did you know that you should avoid using quotation marks according to the JHA Style Guide for Technical Communication and Training? You should also never use single quotation marks, except in the instance of a word or phrase that is already inside double quotation marks (a quote within a quote).

Don’t panic quotation mark lovers! You can use quotation marks the first time you introduce a word or phrase in your documentation that may be odd or unfamiliar to a reader.

Example:

· Symitar added a new field, Spouse Access PIN, to the Credit Retrieval screens to let you send a password to "thaw" a frozen credit report for secondary applicants.

When text is enclosed in quotation marks, place the period ending the sentence inside the closing quotation mark.

Example:

· Enter the maximum number of invalid access attempts (1-9999) Episys should allow before the account is "frozen."

Thank you,

Jackie Solano

Technical Writer, Episys Technical Publications

Symitar®

8985 Balboa Avenue

San Diego, California 92123

Direct Line: 619-542-6711

Good morning, my little chickadees! Last week I answered a question about the accent mark on the key in the upper left-hand corner of most keyboards (the “grave” accent). Some of you then wanted to know a little more about the other accent on that key, grave’s little buddy the tilde (~).

The tilde is used in Portuguese and Spanish to change the sound of certain letters, such as the ñ in señor (pronounced like an “ny” more than the plain old “n”). According to Wikipedia, the name tilde “comes from the Latin titulus meaning ‘title’ or ‘superscription,’ though the term tilde has evolved and now has a different meaning in linguistics. Some may refer to it as a ‘flourish’.”

If you aren’t a student of Spanish, Portuguese, or linguistics, you may have used the tilde in math. Here are some additional details on its mathematical variants, also from the Wikipedia article:

This symbol (in English) informally means "approximately," such as: "~30 minutes ago" meaning "approximately 30 minutes ago." It can mean "similar to," including "of the same order of magnitude as,” such as: "x ~ y" meaning that x and y are of the same order of magnitude. Another approximation symbol is ≈, meaning "approximately equal to," the critical difference being the subjective level of accuracy: ≈ indicates a value which can be considered functionally equivalent for a calculation within an acceptable degree of error, whereas ~ is usually used to indicate a larger, possibly significant, degree of error. The tilde is also used to indicate equal to, or approximately equal to by placing it over the "=" symbol.

For programming and other uses of the tilde, click here: Wikipedia.

Here in the Southwest, the most common use we’d have for it is Spanish. If you want to create an Ñ or ñ from your keyboard, here are the ALT codes:

· ALT+164 is ñ

· ALT+165 is Ñ

If you’ve never used ALT codes, here are instructions (you must have a separate numeric keypad to the right of your standard keyboard):

1. Press the ALT key.

2. While holding the ALT key, enter the numbers on the numeric keypad.

3. When you are done, the symbol or letter will display wherever your cursor is.

For more ALT code accents, try here or search the Internet—it is a magical thing!

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Good morning! Today we’re going to talk a little bit about collective nouns. This may sound familiar because we’ve discussed them before. Collective nouns refer to a group of people, animals, objects, or ideas as a single thing. What do I mean? For example, a collective noun for mom, dad, Billy, Buffy, and Skip the dog is “family”; a group of lions is a “pride.” Collective nouns take the individual members and wrap them up in a singular term.

Today’s question is: Do I use a singular verb or a plural verb with collective nouns?

Today’s answer is: This is English; it’s not that simple.

Collective nouns can be used as a singular or plural term; it depends on how the term is being used in the sentence.

· Tip #1: Try to figure out if the collective noun is referring to a group of individuals working separately, or a group of individuals working together as a single entity.

o Example of a group of individuals working separately: The class (they, plural) decided to stay outside longer and enjoy their (plural) lunches (plural).

o Example of a group of individuals working together as a single entity: The class (it, singular) voted to extend its (singular) school year.

· Tip #2: If it’s too hard to make a decision on singular or plural, precede your collective noun with words like “members of” which force you to use the plural form of the verb.

o Example: Members of the class (they, plural) sang as they (plural) walked across campus.

For elaboration on this topic, here is an example from grammar.about.com:

Nouns such as committee, family, government, jury, and squad take a singular verb or pronoun when thought of as a single unit, but a plural verb or pronoun when thought of as a collection of individuals:

o The committee gave its unanimous approval to the plans.

o The committee enjoyed biscuits with their tea.

And here are some Editor’s Corner topics on the collective nouns themselves:

o https://episystechpubs.com/2012/11/26/editors-corner-flock-of-seagulls/

o https://episystechpubs.com/2013/12/11/editors-corner-two-turtle-doves-and-a-grammar-lesson-in-a-pear-tree/

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Last week, I was listening to a comedy show and the topic of spelling and “the silent k” came up. Today I received an article from Daily Writing Tips about the same topic, so I thought I’d share part of the article with you.

Kn- Words in English

A teaching site offers this rule for dealing with “silent k”: “k is often silent before n.”

An easier way to retain this information is to forget about “silent k” altogether. In a word like knot, k is not “a silent letter” at all, but part of the distinct phonogram kn.

The symbol kn is just another way to spell the sound /n/.

The spelling kn in a word like knave evolved from the Old English spelling cn, in which the “c” represented a guttural sound similar to the sound /k/. For example, the OE words from which our words knight, knot, and knave have evolved were spelled cniht, cnotta, and cnafa and pronounced with a hard first sound. The guttural sound eventually dropped out, leaving only the /n/ sound, but the old spelling has survived in kn.

Here are some familiar kn words.

Here are some more kn words that may not be as familiar:

knacker (noun): One whose trade it is to buy worn out, diseased, or useless horses, and slaughter them for their hides and hoofs, and for making dog’s-meat. Ex. “Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds.” (Animal Farm, George Orwell)

knickerbockers (noun): loose-fitting breeches, gathered in at the knee, and worn by boys, sportsmen, and others who require a freer use of their limbs. Ex. “The child…was dressed in knickerbockers, with red stockings.” (Daisy Miller, Henry James)

knout (noun): a kind of whip or scourge, very severe and often fatal in its effects.

[KC – For the full article, click
here.]

I have to admit the word knout caught my eye, so I did a little more research. As stated, a knout is a kind of “scourge,” which is specifically a type of whip with more than one tail, similar to a cat-o-nine-tails. In many versions, the knout wasn’t just multi-tailed, but each tail was weighted with a metal tip. The most notorious use of the knout was in imperial Russia. Here is a drawing of one for you to wince at:

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Per the JHA Style Guide for Technical Communication and Training, you should avoid using semicolons in your writing. Sentences should be kept simple so that semicolons are not required. Lengthy sentences make writing difficult to read and understand, especially in technical documentation. You can trim sentence length by breaking long sentences into two or more separate sentences. The new editing tool (Acrolinx) that Jack Henry is working on implementing will flag sentences that contain more than 30 words.

If you must use a semicolon, here are the rules from a previous Editor’s Corner written by Donna Bradley Burcher:

Rule 1: Use a semicolon between two independent clauses (which is a highfalutin way of saying two complete sentences) that are not joined by a conjunction (such as, and, but, because, etc.). Used this way, the semicolon signals a closer connection between the clauses than a period would.

Examples:

· Don’t argue with me; I’m a black belt.

· He says he’s allergic to dogs; she says he just doesn’t want her to adopt the Saint Bernard she found at the shelter.

· Other networks do not use this parameter; it remains set to No.

Note: Similarly, you can use a semicolon with a transitional adverb (like however, therefore, etc.) between your two independent clauses, for example:

· He really liked road trips; however, he suffered from motion sickness so he couldn’t be the map reader.

Rule 2: Use a semicolon to separate the main entries in a list that also includes subentries. (In other words, use semicolons to separate items in a series when some or all of the items in that series already contain commas. The examples below should make this rule clear.)

Examples:

· There are Symitar credit unions in San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA; and Chicago, IL.

· Set the HB Enable Code field to indicate the member’s level of access (inquiries only; inquiries and transfers; or inquiries, transfers, and withdrawals).

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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Have you ever wondered about the correct way to use the words might and may? Well, if you have, you’re not alone. Both words indicate that something is possible, and the difference between the words is subtle, so many people use them interchangeably. If you want to be one of the few people to use them correctly, here’s what you need to know:

First, you should use may instead of might if you are talking about something that is more likely. So, for instance, I may go home early today. And I might win the lottery. (I don’t even play the lottery, so it is much more likely that I’ll go home early today—and since I came in late, it only seems fitting. It’s all about balance.)

Second, might is the past tense of may, so you should always use might when you’re talking about something that happened in the past. For example, if your boss asks you if your co-worker came in late this morning, you could answer, “She might not have.” And I would say, “Thank you.”

To read more about the correct use of may and might, read this article from Grammar Girl.

Donna Bradley Burcher | Technical Editor | Symitar®

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

Just the other day, someone asked me about when to use wait vs. await, or if they could use them interchangeably. While they both have a general meaning of staying in place, each has a different flavor and requires a different grammatical structure. Let’s have a look!

The verb await requires that you have an object in your sentence. For example:

· I await your response to my invitation.

· Joe shook nervously as he awaited Becky’s answer to his proposal.

And while await means “staying” or “being ready” for something, it is also considered more formal. It even has a bit of a shady background according to Merriam-Webster, where its obsolete use is “to watch for (someone) especially with hostile intent: lie in wait for.”

The verb wait is more flexible. You can use it by itself, with other verbs, and to mean everything from “staying” to “attending to” to “delay.” For example:

· We waited three hours for Chris to show up.

· Jeeves waited on the Countess, predicting his mistress’s every need before she herself knew she wanted something.

· Wait thirty minutes after eating before you return to the swimming pool.

Another interesting tidbit (well, interesting to me) is that the Spanish verb esperar means both “to wait” and “to hope.”

Now…no more waiting! It’s Friday. Have a great weekend.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Long ago and far away, someone asked me about this tiny character on our keyboards. It looks like a backwards apostrophe or single quote mark. On my keyboard, it is to the left of the 1, underneath the tilde (~) and it looks like this:

`

This, my friends, is called the grave accent. It isn’t used in everyday English, though you might be familiar with it if you read a lot of poetry or song lyrics. From Wikipedia:

“…sometimes used in poetry and song lyrics to indicate that a vowel usually silent is to be pronounced, in order to fit the rhythm or meter. Most often, it is applied to a word ending with -ed. For instance, the word looked is usually pronounced /ˈlʊkt/ as a single syllable, with the e silent; when written as lookèd, the e is pronounced: /ˈlʊk.ɨd/ look-ed). It can also be used in this capacity to distinguish certain pairs of identically spelled words like the past tense of learn, learned /ˈlɜrnd/, from the adjective learnèd /ˈlɜrn.ɨd/ (for example, "a very learnèd man").”

The accent is also used in some programming and is used regularly in other languages such as Dutch, French, Catalan, Italian, Mohawk, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, etc. Click the Wikipedia link above for more information on this mysterious accent hiding in plain sight on our keyboards.

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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