Editor's Corner

Use these guidelines from the JHA Style Guide for Technical Communication and Training when describing mouse terms.

Thank you,

Jackie Solano

Technical Writer, Episys Technical Publications

Symitar®

8985 Balboa Avenue

San Diego, California 92123

Direct Line: 619-542-6711

I just purchased a book that I hope will educate and entertain all of us on occasion. It’s called What in the Word, by Charles Harrington Elster. As I was paging through it yesterday, I found something I thought might be of interest.

Question: How did police officers come to be called cops?

Answer: The two stories you hear or read the most, that cop is short for copper—a reference to the big brass buttons on the uniforms of London bobbies—or that it’s an acronym for constabulary of police or some such thing, are both unfounded. (Acronymic etymologies, in particular, are always suspect.)

The true source of cop meaning a police officer appears to be the verb to cop, which in northern England was used to mean “to capture, catch, lay hold of, ‘nab,’” says the Oxford English Dictionary, whose earliest citation for this sense is from 1704. This verb cop probably goes back in turn to the Latin capere, which meant to catch, seize, take possession by force. By the mid-nineteenth century, says the QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, the verb was “adopted as a name for a policeman, who of course, caught or captured crooks.” The old-fashioned variant copper has nothing to do with the metal or with buttons. It simply tacks the agent suffix –er onto the verb to form a noun meaning “one who cops.”

All that said, have a good holiday, be safe, and avoid any run-ins with the coppers!

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Hello all and happy holiday week!

Today I have some more vocabulary from Boardwalk Empire. You are probably familiar with the first two terms, Ponzi scheme and haymaker, and I bet you’ve heard an abbreviated version of the third word, vigorish. For a little flavor from 1910s and 1920s Atlantic City, here are the definitions and details for these three terms, from Merriam-Webster:

· Pon·zi scheme

An investment swindle in which some early investors are paid off with the money put up by later ones in order to encourage more and bigger risks

Origin of PONZI SCHEME[+]

after Charles A. Ponzi American (Italian-born) swindler

First Known Use: 1920

· haymaker
[KC – In this case, the reference was “a haymaker to the head.”]

1a : a worker who cuts and cures hay b : a machine for curing hay

2a : a powerful blow with the fist often resulting in a knockout b : an action or statement that is a stunning setback

· vig·or·ish plural -es

[KC – Fans of mafia flicks, police dramas, and the “crime and punishment” genre will recognize this as
“the vig.”]

1: a charge taken (as by a bookie or gambling house) on bets; also : the degree of such a charge <a vigorish of 5 percent>

2: interest paid to a moneylender

Origin of VIGORISH[+]

probably from Yiddish, from Russian vyigrysh winnings, profit

First Known Use: 1912 (sense 1)

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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When including file names in your writing, please use these guidelines from the JHA Style Guide for Technical Communication and Training.

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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Here is a question you may have heard lately: Why do Americans call it soccer when the rest of the world calls it football? Well, thanks to one of our thoughtful co-workers, Ms. Beauvillia, and an article from Tony Manfred in Business Insider, here is an explanation. Happy Friday!

While calling the world’s most popular sport "soccer" is typically depicted as a symbol of American ignorance, the reason we don’t call it "football" like the rest of the world is Britain’s fault.

The word "soccer" is a British invention that British people stopped using only about 30 years ago, according to a new paper by University of Michigan professor Stefan Szymanski.

The word "soccer" comes from the use of the term "association football" in Britain and goes back 200 years.

In the early 1800s, a bunch of British universities took "football" — a medieval game — and started playing their own versions of it, all under different rules. To standardize things across the country, these games were categorized under different organizations with different names.

One variant of the game you played with your hands became "rugby football." Another variant came to be known as "association football" after the Football Association formed to promote the game in 1863, 15 years after the rules were made at Cambridge.

"Rugby football" became "rugger" for short. "Association football" became "soccer."

After these two sports spread across the Atlantic, Americans invented their own variant of the game that they simply called "football" in the early 1900s.

"Association football" became "soccer" in America, and what was called "gridiron" in Britain became simply "football" in America.

The interesting thing here is that Brits still used "soccer" regularly for a huge chunk of the 20th century. Between 1960 and 1980, "soccer" and "football" were "almost interchangeable" in Britain, Szymanski found.

Then everything changed (via Szymanski):

"Since 1980 the usage of the word ‘soccer’ has declined in British publications, and where it is used, it usually refers to an American context. This decline seems to be a reaction against the increased usage in the US which seems to be associated with the highpoint of the NASL around 1980."

British people stopped saying "soccer" because of its American connotations.

So, no, it’s not wrong to call it "soccer" if you’re American.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Happy Thursday, my friends! We’re a few steps closer to the weekend and I have another tip for you: when a measurement is used as an adjective, use a hyphen. For example:

· You cannot send a 10-megabyte file through email. (10-megabyte is an adjective modifying the noun file.)

· If the file is 20 megabytes or larger, you should not send it through email. (In this case, megabyte is a noun and 20 is an adjective.)

· The recipe calls for a 5-quart saucepan. (5-quart is an adjective modifying the noun saucepan.)

· The recipe calls for 5 quarts of rum. (In this case, quart is a noun and 5 is an adjective.)

· Mrs. Crabapple asked each of us for a 7-page essay on our favorite activities of the summer. (7-page is an adjective modifying the noun essay.)

· Mrs. Crabapple had to read 7 pages of malarkey from each student on what they did over the summer. (In this case, page is a noun and 7 is an adjective.)

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Today I have a fun little break for you from one of our local celebrities, Richard Lederer. The following article is from Saturday, June 21 in the San Diego Union Tribune:

Because language is naturally playful, we human beings love to make jokes about words. Here, in order of length, are a dozen of my favorite verbal tour de farces:

• Bad spellers of the world, untie! [KC – I’ve seen this also as “Dyslexics of the world, untie!”]

• Every time you make a typo, the errorists win.

• The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.

• Have you heard about the cat who ate some cheese, breathed into a mouse hole and waited with baited breath?

• Have you heard about the dyslexic, agnostic insomniac? He stayed up all night tossing and turning, wondering if there was a dog.

• The AP style guide is now accepting over in place of more than. A number of grammar purists have riposted, “More than my dead body!”

• I am fluent in French, Russian, Italian, thousand island, vinaigrette, ranch, gorgonzola, balsamic, green goddess and honey mustard. I also speak Esperanto like a native.

• My girlfriend texted me: “Your adorable.” I replied: “No, YOU’RE adorable.” Now she’s crazy about me — and I haven’t the heart to tell her that I was just pointing out her typo.

• Those who strive to impugn the reputation of the former governor of Alaska and Republican candidate for vice president are out to HARASS SARAH. That’s not just a palindrome. It’s a Palin drome!

• Saint Peter hears a knocking at the gates of Heaven and calls out, “Who’s there?”

“It is I,” a voice responds.

“Good,” says Saint Peter. “That must be another English teacher.”

• My wife was in labor with our first child. Things were going pretty well when suddenly she began shouting, “Can’t! Don’t! Won’t! Shouldn’t! Wouldn’t! Couldn’t!”

“Doctor, what’s wrong with my wife?” I cried.

“It’s perfectly normal,” he assured me. “She’s having contractions.”

• A linguistics professor was lecturing to his class one day. “In English,” he proclaimed, “a double negative forms a positive. In some languages though, such as Russian and Spanish, a double negative is still a negative.”

“However,” he pointed out, “there is no language in which a double positive can form a negative.”

A voice from the back of the room piped up, “Yeah, right.”

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Good morning, all. I hope this email finds you happy and healthy this Tuesday. Today I have a handy dandy rule for you that should help you with those pesky hyphenated words.

Rule: Do not hyphenate compound adjectives when the first word is an adverb that ends in –ly.

Examples:

· Incorrect: Johnny’s performance was unprofessional and his sorely-lacking technique made his dance routine difficult to watch.

· Correct: Johnny’s performance was unprofessional and his sorely lacking technique made his dance routine difficult to watch.

· Incorrect: The newly-formed tar bubble came up through the sidewalk at La Brea.

· Correct: The newly formed tar bubble came up through the sidewalk at La Brea.

· Incorrect: Sybil had a lovely, richly-furnished apartment on the East Side.

· Correct: Sybil had a lovely, richly furnished apartment on the East Side.

Father, son, and Lolly—get your adverbs here (click picture):

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

I came across an article on technical writing that said to avoid using "technicalese." Technicalese is writing that sounds like it was written by a robot rather than by a human.

This article mentioned some tips to help you avoid sounding like a robot. These tips can also be applied to business writing.

· Eliminate jargon: only use a technical term if it is appropriate for the audience and another word doesn’t fit the situation.

o Original: You cannot file maintain this field.

o Revision: You cannot perform file maintenance on this field.

· Write simply: avoid unnecessary words, sentences, and paragraphs. Make text as concise and straightforward as possible. For example:

o Original: As you answer questions and provide feedback, we will use your input to continue improving how our documentation answers your questions.

o Revision: We will use your feedback to continue to improve our documentation.

· Use active voice as much as possible: active voice makes your writing more direct and easier to understand. For example:

o Original: The specified amount rather than the standard payment amount is taken.

o Revision: Episys collects the specified amount rather than the standard payment amount.

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,
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.

One of the projects I’m currently working on revolves around an editing tool that will help us provide cleaner, more consistent documentation across the company. As I come across different rules that this magic software uses while reviewing documents, I plan on sharing those rules with all of you, since they apply to good business writing in general. Today’s topic is avoiding clichés. First, what is a cliché?

According to our friends at Merriam-Webster, a cliché is:

1: a phrase or expression that has been used so often that it is no longer original or interesting

2: something that is so commonly used in books, stories, etc., that it is no longer effective

3: a trite phrase or expression; also, the idea expressed by it

Wikipedia provides this information:

The word cliché is drawn from the French language. In printing, a cliché was a printing plate cast from movable type. This is also called a stereotype. When letters were set one at a time, it made sense to cast a phrase used repeatedly, as a single slug of metal. Cliché came to mean such a ready-made phrase.

Examples of clichés from Your Dictionary:

• Time will tell

• As old as the hills
• Fit as a fiddle
• A diamond in the rough
• All is fair in love and war
• Every cloud has a silver lining
• Time heals all wounds

• What goes around comes around
• Read between the lines
• Laughter is the best medicine
• We’re not laughing at you were laughing with you

Okay! Now that you know what to look for, my advice is to remove clichés from your emails, documentation, and other writing. Well done.

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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