Editor's Corner

Is there such thing as too much punctuation? Of course there is! Over the next couple of days, I have a few reminders for you about when to use quotation marks, question marks, and exclamation points.

Today we start with exclamation points.

Exclamation points are used to indicate something is said with emotion and a raised voice; they are a visual cue that something is important and possibly said with force. Here are the conditions under which exclamation points are appropriate:

· When you want to indicate something should be said with enthusiasm or emotion
Example: “You look fantastic!”

· When you are giving a command
Example: “Go to your room now!”

· When you are providing a warning (This is the only example I can think of when we would use an exclamation point in our business writing.)
Example:
Caution: Proceeding with this command will delete all of the information in your database!

· Batman sound effects
Example: POW! BAM! SNAP! (Okay, he only uses the last exclamation after a particularly good insult towards Robin.)

As you can imagine, most of those situations are not appropriate in business writing. Keep these things in mind when you are tempted to use an exclamation point:

· Exclamation points are generally used for fiction and informal writing (I just read that 30 percent of the Tweets out there contain one or more exclamation points. That’s a lot of yelling.)

· Just like the Highlander, there can (or should) be only one! One sentence? One exclamation point. The exception to that is Spanish, but until we start writing our documentation in Spanish, stick with one exclamation point.)

· If you are writing dialog, keep the exclamation point within the quotation marks. For example, “Rocky! Come back!”

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Is there such thing as too much punctuation? Of course there is! Over the next couple of days, I have a few reminders for you about when to use quotation marks, question marks, and exclamation points.

Today we start with exclamation points.

Exclamation points are used to indicate something is said with emotion and a raised voice; they are a visual cue that something is important and possibly said with force. Here are the conditions under which exclamation points are appropriate:

· When you want to indicate something should be said with enthusiasm or emotion
Example: “You look fantastic!”

· When you are giving a command
Example: “Go to your room now!”

· When you are providing a warning (This is the only example I can think of when we would use an exclamation point in our business writing.)
Example:
Caution: Proceeding with this command will delete all of the information in your database!

· Batman sound effects
Example: POW! BAM! SNAP! (Okay, he only uses the last exclamation after a particularly good insult towards Robin.)

As you can imagine, most of those situations are not appropriate in business writing. Keep these things in mind when you are tempted to use an exclamation point:

· Exclamation points are generally used for fiction and informal writing (I just read that 30 percent of the Tweets out there contain one or more exclamation points. That’s a lot of yelling.)

· Just like the Highlander, there can (or should) be only one! One sentence? One exclamation point. The exception to that is Spanish, but until we start writing our documentation in Spanish, stick with one exclamation point.)

· If you are writing dialog, keep the exclamation point within the quotation marks. For example, “Rocky! Come back!”

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Good day, all! Today we have a few more social media terms from the Building Brand Character glossary.

· Hashtag: A tag used on the social network Twitter as a way to annotate a message. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a “#.” [KC – This symbol has many names, including “pound sign” and “octothorpe.”]

According to Twitter:
The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

o People use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search.

o Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword.

o Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet—at the beginning, middle, or end.

· HootSuite: A social media management system that helps brands streamline campaigns across social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ Pages. Teams can collaboratively monitor, engage, and measure the results of social campaigns from one secure, web-based dashboard.

· Hub: (expert page) a trusted page with high quality content that links out to related pages.

That’s all for today!

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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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.

A very happy end of the week to you all! Today I have another question from the blog mailbox:

Dear Editrix,

Does a mentor have a protégé or a mentee? I’ve recently heard mentee but it sounds like a made up word.

Alan (a credit union fan)

Dear Alan,

My apologies that this comes four months after you sent the question.

I’ve often wondered about the legitimacy of the word mentee, too. We have good reason to think that someone who is mentored (tutored, coached, taught) would be called a mentee because of a common pattern in English. We take a word, like advise, lease, or mortgage and then add an –or or –er to indicate the person who is making or doing something with that word; then we add –ee to indicate the person who is receiving or benefitting from the item or action. It’s easier to look at some common examples to see this pattern:

Yes, dear Alan, mentee has been a word meaning “one who is mentored,” or protégé, since 1965. And now for some additional definitions, from Merriam-Webster:

· manatee (not to be confused with mentee)
A large animal that lives in warm waters and eats plants

· protégé (male); protégée (female)
A young person who is taught and helped by someone who has a lot of knowledge and experience; one who is protected or trained or whose career is furthered by a person of experience, prominence, or influence

Two manatees hanging out in Florida, discussing the dangers of motorboats:

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Here are more social media terms from Building Brand Character plus a couple of extra terms for fun.

· Geo-location: Term used to track the physical location of people or objects. Typically used in mobile applications and services such as Foursquare.

· Geo-tagging: When you add location-based data to a photo, video, or tweet to identify where the content was posted.

· Google Authorship Markup: Allows your picture to show up next to your link in search results, authenticating your content and potentially increasing the click-through rate on your search result.

· Google Bomb: The combined effort of multiple webmasters to change Google search results, usually for humorous effect. The “greatest living American” Steven Colbert Google bomb is a famous example.

· Google+: Google’s new social network. [KC – It was actually launched in 2011, so it’s not that new.] It differs in that it promotes social sharing that is more similar to how people share in real life by providing features such as one that limits who you are talking to, creating 1-on-1 conversation.

· Google+ Local: This is the listing that shows up within local search results and is tied to the business’s Google+ business page.

· Googlebot: Google’s spider program

· Grey Hat: A Search Engine Optimization (SEO)strategy that is not completely natural without crossing the line into Black Hat territory. This is the method that most SEO consultants use, because it is effective without being unethical, but still goes against the search engine’s best practices guidelines.

· GYM: Google – Yahoo – Microsoft, the big three search engine companies

And here are two I’d like to add:

· The Google: When asked if he ever used Google to look things up, former President George W. Bush responded: “Occasionally. One of the things I’ve used on the Google is to pull up maps. It’s very interesting to see—I’ve forgot the name of the program—but you get the satellite, and you can—like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It reminds me of where I wanna be sometimes.” For a brief parody on “The Google,” see The Onion (link does not work well in Internet Explorer, try pasting this into Chrome: http://www.theonion.com/articles/google-launches-the-google-for-older-adults,5850/).

· goo·gle (from Merriam-Webster)

transitive verb, often capitalized ˈgü-gəl

goo·gled, goo·gling -g(ə-)liŋ

to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web [KC – Yes, it’s in the dictionary, but please don’t refer to “googling” in your technical documentation. We want to appear unbiased toward a particular brand.
J]

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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Dear Editrix,

I have a co-worker who uses the term “may you please” when she is asking me if I will do something or if I can do something. I really don’t know what to tell her besides, “That’s incorrect!” Here are some examples of things she might write:

· “I am attaching the file; may you please confirm that you received it?”

· “May you please send the information to this address?”

Sincerely, Flummoxed in Freemont

Dear Flummoxed,

I have never heard anyone use that phrasing, but my first thought is that the person’s first language is something other than English. My second thought is that they are trying to be polite.

After doing a little research, it seems that this is a common mistake for people learning English. As most of us do when we are learning a language, we try to identify patterns. When it comes to modal verbs (such as can, may, might, shall, will, etc.), some of those patterns go out of the window.

To start with, modal (or auxiliary) verbs deal with things such as possibility, permission, and obligation, which can be difficult on a language level and on a social level. For example, compare the level of formality among these phrases:

· Would you like to play a game?

· Shall we play a game?

· Do you want to play a game?

· Might we play a game?

They are all grammatically correct, but they all have a different “flavor.” If someone came at you with the verb “shall,” you might think he or she was getting a bit fancy. J

Additionally, as Wikipedia describes modal verbs, “They can be distinguished from other verbs by their defectiveness (they do not have participle or infinitive forms)…” That’s right: there’s no such thing as “to can,” “to will,” or “to may,” like there is with other verbs (e.g., to write, to be, to bark).

That said, imagine the individual hearing people ask “Could you please leave the door open?” or “Would you like a cupcake?” or “May I take your coat?” or “Will you be staying for dinner?” It might seem logical to them to ask a question like “May you answer my question?”

The answer could also be simpler than that. A lot of people confuse “can” and “may” in certain situations. You’ve probably heard a conversation like this before:

Jimmy: “Mrs. Crabtree, can I drink Kool-Aid from the pitcher?”

Mrs. Crabtree: “I don’t know Jimmy, can you? I think you meant to ask ‘May I drink Kool-Aid from the pitcher?’”

Jimmy: “Okay, Mrs. Crabtree.”

Jimmy: “Mrs. Crabtree, may I drink Kool-Aid from the pitcher?”

Mrs. Crabtree: “No, you may not!”

In this case, Flummoxed, your friend needs to remember that “can” generally means “to be able to”; “may” expresses the possibility of doing something or the permission to do something. Perhaps there is a gentle way to suggest that your friend use the word “can” when requesting that someone else do something?

Good luck!

Editrix

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Hello, folks!

After covering Facebook terms the other day, here are some other social media “F words” from Building Brand Character and Constant Contact:

· Flickr: A picture-sharing social media site that allows users to upload and share photos with friends, family, or anyone.

· forum: An online discussion site that is also commonly known as a message board. Communities of like-minded individuals with similar interests can start topics and respond to posts from others.

· Follow Friday: (#ff) A trend that utilizes the hashtag, #ff, to recommend other users or Twitter accounts to their friends and followers. See also, #throwbackthursday.

· Foursquare: A social network where users can check in to businesses or places, upload photos, and share on other social media sites.

o Foursquare
A geo-location service that allows users to check in at businesses and other locations, earning badges and other virtual rewards along the way. Businesses can use Foursquare to see who their regular customers are and offer special deals to them. [KC – A popular game that offers real rewards, like being king or queen of the playground.]

o Badge
A fun virtual "token" that Foursquare awards its users for certain behaviors, or for attending certain events. For example, users can unlock the "Bender" badge if they check in four nights in a row. Businesses can also sponsor badges for those attending special events.

o Check in
The act of saying "I’m here" on geo-location services like Foursquare and Gowalla.

o Mayor
The person who checks in at a given location the most on Foursquare is deemed the "Mayor." This can entitle the person to special deals and discounts, if the business has established them. Other Foursquare users can "oust" the Mayor and claim the title simply by checking in one more time.

And two more signs from the “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks:

Kara Church

Senior Technical Editor

Good morning folks. It’s been a long time since I’ve given you anything from the Chicago Manual of Style Q&A, but this month has a juicy question about hyphens and numbers, two topics that confuse a lot of us. For the question, answer, usage examples, the description of a giant house, and your reading pleasure, see below:

Q. I am editing a magazine article related to real estate and am struggling with how to hyphenate the descriptions. “With seven bedrooms, four full and two half bathrooms, this home has 6,000 square feet of living space.” Also, “This is a 2,000 square foot, fully renovated four bedroom, three and a half bathroom home.” What does CMOS suggest?

A. Thank you for asking! Reading real estate ads can be painful for us. Your first sentence is passable; the second one needs a lot of hyphens. If a compound phrase (number + noun) serves as an adjective and comes before the noun it modifies, it usually needs hyphens:

· a three-and-a-half-bathroom home

· a four-bedroom townhouse

· a 600-square-foot studio

· a 2,000-square-foot, fully renovated four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom home

If the compound phrase (number + noun) serves as a noun itself and does not modify a noun that follows, it does not need hyphens:

· a home with three and a half bathrooms

· a townhouse with four bedrooms

· a studio of 600 square feet

· a home with seven bedrooms, four full and two half bathrooms, and 6,000 square feet of living space

Kara Church

Senior Technical Editor

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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The other day someone sent me an excerpt of an email she received. It said “Hereunto attached is the file I’ll be referencing in our conversation later today.” My response to her was, “You’re kidding me, right?”

Here are a few reasons that sentence is, well, horrible:

· Hereunto is pompous, archaic legalese

· Hereunto means “to this” (So, the writer is saying “To this attached is the file…” That may be okay for Yoda, but it is not acceptable for our business email.)

· The entire sentence is far too wordy. (How about: “I’ve attached the file I’ll be referencing later”? That is straight and to the point.)

The highfalutin, overly formal language the writer chose often backfires. Rather than seeming fancy and well-educated, the overall message is masked with the misuse of a term that throws the reader off from the start. Our job is to make things clear to our audience, not hide the message in awkward phrasing.

Here are a few terms you should avoid unless you are a lawyer:

Alternate wording courtesy of the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Happy Friday!

Kara Church

Senior Technical Editor

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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together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
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immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Today’s social media entry is dedicated to one site: Facebook. The following vocabulary and definitions are from the glossary at the aptly named Constant Contact website. It is this feeling of constant contact that drives me away from Facebook. While it is nice to see what old friends are up to and what amazing things my relatives are doing, I don’t like being saddled with the chore of keeping up-to-date on yet another app every day. If someone wants to know what’s going on with me, they can sign up for Editor’s Corner, right? Otherwise, you won’t see my vacation photos, pictures of my dinner, or anything else of much interest on my wall. For many, Facebook is a godsend, however; so here’s some terminology to help you navigate.

Note: The excessive capitalization in the following definitions is greatly frowned upon by yours truly; however, to let the article flow, I will refrain from adding [sic] to all of the common nouns that are capitalized.

Facebook

The largest of the social networks (it boasts more than 500 million active users), Facebook has become a favorite destination for people, businesses, and organizations to connect and share information because of its easy-to-use interface and interactive features. It’s the most multimedia-friendly of the big three networks as members can post text, pictures, audio, and video. It also offers tons of applications and widgets that can make your Facebook Page engaging and fun.

Commenting

Just about everything posted to Facebook has a comment field below it for you, Friends, and fans to post a response and facilitate a conversation. When comments are left on personal profile updates, the owner gets an email notification. However, Page comments do not have email alerts associated with them, so it’s vital to check back regularly to see if customers are leaving comments and to respond appropriately. Alternatively, you can sign up for a free NutshellMail account, to receive a daily update of new comments and activity posted to your Facebook Page.

Friend

When you want to connect with someone on Facebook through a personal profile, you "friend" them. The friend connection is two-way, meaning both parties have to agree before the connection is made. (See also "unfriending.")

Like

The "Like" button is now ubiquitous on Facebook (and off). The Like button provides a simple way for Facebook users to share their approval or endorsement with their network of friends. Users can Like a Page as a way of providing a recommendation or they can simply Like an individual post, picture, or video to provide a virtual thumbs up. You may have noticed Like buttons on non-Facebook websites. This is a great way to get visitors to your website or blog to recommend your business or an individual post with their Facebook network. (You can learn how to add a "Like" button to your website here: http://www.facebook.com/badges).

Message

Messages are private notes sent between users. They’re only viewable to the sender and recipients. It’s pretty much like sending an email but with an address book that is limited to your Facebook friends.

News Feed

What Facebook calls all the items that your friends and the businesses/organizations you Like have posted. Users have two ways to view this content: You can see "Most Recent" items (i.e., everything that’s been posted) or "Top News" items (i.e., those that have been most commented on).

Page

A Page (previously referred to as a Fan or Business Page) is the recommended platform for your business or organization to connect with new people and engage with your existing customers in an open dialog. The benefit of a Page is that customers can follow it by hitting the "Like" button without the connection having to be reciprocated. When you post a comment to your Page, it will show up in your fans’ news feed, for all their friends to read and share. You can create an incredible network effect by posting interesting and valuable content and promotions to your Page.

Personal Profile

Any individual who is on Facebook has a personal profile: it’s the focal point for the entire network. Your profile page contains all your pertinent information and is how others find and connect with you on Facebook. Through your profile, you can share status updates, photos, videos, links, and other content. Plus, friends can comment on your posts. Businesses, organizations, and celebrities are recommended to create a Page rather than a personal profile.

Places

Facebook’s geo-location feature allows users to check in wherever they are. As opposed to similar services like Foursquare and Gowalla, Facebook Places allows users to tag their friends who are also at a location, giving businesses and organization an even better indication of who is visiting their establishment or attending their event. Note: Facebook users can choose to block themselves from being tagged if they wouldn’t want that kind of information to be revealed.

Privacy Settings

Facebook has a myriad of privacy settings that you can use to control who sees what. Note that Facebook changes the range of settings and their defaults from time to time. It’s good to keep an eye on any changes to Facebook’s Terms of Service.

Share

Sharing is synonymous with posting or publishing. You can publish text, links, photos, videos, and events on Facebook using the share box at the top of your profile (it says, "What’s on your mind?" inside the box). After entering your text, you have the option to upload a photo, video, or insert a link. When sharing a link, Facebook will automatically include the title, description, and an image (if available) from the page you’re linking to. If there are multiple images on the page, you have the option to select which image you want to use as the thumbnail. You can also change the specific text that is displayed by clicking on it. In addition, when you share content to your Wall, your fans and friends can then Like, comment on, or share the content with their friends. The share feature is what makes publishing content to Facebook so powerful. By sharing great content, you can encourage your friends and fans to syndicate your message, creating a powerful network effect.

Tabs

Along the top of a Facebook profile or page, tabs separate out areas of content. Customers can add additional tabs using pre-built applications or by building their own.

Tag

You can tag friends in pictures, places, videos, and in text, which places a link from the item to their profile. Tagging a person’s face in one of your own photos will allow that person’s friends to see your photo, depending on the tagged person’s privacy settings.

Unfriending

Disconnecting with someone on Facebook. When you unfriend someone, the person does not get notice that you have done so.

Wall

This is your own profile page and the updates it contains. People can write updates on your wall that are viewable by all your friends.

Wall to Wall

Notes written between you and someone else that are viewable to anyone who is connected to you and the other friend. Think of it as being able to eavesdrop on a public conversation; writing on someone else’s wall means that anyone you’re connected to can read what you wrote.

Thanks to the Editor’s Corner’s best friend, Keith Slayton, for the graphic!

Kara Church

Senior Technical Editor