Editor's Corner

Good morning, folks! Today I have a blurb about further and farther for many of you who’ve asked about when to use each one. This tips and examples are from The Blue Book of Grammar & Punctuation.

Have you wondered whether there is a right way and a wrong way to use the words farther and further? The different uses of the two words can be subtle. Let’s have a closer look.

Farther: Refers to physical distance only.

Examples:
We had to walk farther than the map indicated.

Reno is farther from San Francisco than from Sacramento.

Further:

1. Moreover; in addition; to a greater extent.

   Examples:
   We need to discuss this further.

   Nothing could be further from the truth.

2. May be used for physical distance although farther is preferred.

   Example: We had to drive further.

3. To help forward, advance, or promote a work, undertaking, cause, etc.

   Example: Elisa had more desire to further her own interests than to further the mission of the organization.

From Signspotting 4: The Art of Miscommunication
Compiled by Doug Lansky

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor

Before I get started, I have a couple things to say regarding Friday’s e-mail about gender-neutral words:

• To those of you who laughed at my jokes – I’m glad somebody knew I was just having some fun. And by the way, what a great sense of humor you folks have! 🙂
• To Keith Slayton – You and your KC Masterpiece Great Work of Art BBQ Sauce are simply awesome and I wish I could hire you as a graphic artist.

Now, down to business!

Some weeks ago, my co-worker Sean Hannify asked me about the origins of punctuation marks and symbols on our keyboards, not just what they are used for. I’ve found all sorts of information—some mysterious, some that sounds like it was conjured up by kids cutting class, and some that sounds relatively true. Over the next few weeks I’ll share my findings with you.

The Exclamation Mark (!)
Today, I’d like to introduce you to the many sides of the exclamation point. Generally, we don’t use this much in business writing, since it is used to indicate volume, shouting, excitement, or some kind of interjection. Probably the most common place we’d find this mark is in an error or warning message, such as “Caution! Did you really mean to select the red button?”

As far as the history of the exclamation point, both Wikipedia and the Smithsonian magazine blog mention that nobody is certain, but they offer the same possible theory behind it and some interesting facts about its use. The current theory is that the mark comes from the Latin exclamation for joy: io, with the “i” written above the “o.” As you may remember from school or from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Latin letters are written as capitals, so with io written out (“i” above the “o”), you get something like this:
I
O

While the proportions aren’t quite right, you can see what they’re getting at, and it sounds like a good story to me.
As far as English goes, the exclamation mark was first introduced into printing in the 1400s to show emphasis. Wikipedia tells us it was “called the ‘sign of admiration or exclamation’ or the ‘note of admiration’ until the mid-17th century; admiration referred to its Latin sense of wonderment.”
Our next stop is all the way up in the 1950s, when typesetting manuals referred to it as “bang,” which was also the term used to indicate an exclamation point during dictation. One resource speculates that “bang” came from the use of the exclamation point in comic books, where gunfire was represented by spelling BANG! in a dialog balloon.
Up until 1970, if you wanted to type an exclamation point, you had to type a period and then go back and type an apostrophe above it. A few years after the Summer of Love, a lot of hippie babies were born and the exclamation point was added to the typewriter keyboard. The connection? None that I know of.
There are a ton of alternate names and slang terms for the exclamation mark, from the printing world to the land of hackers. Some of these include:

• exclamation point
• screamer
• gasper
• slammer
• startler
• bang
• shriek
• pling (British slang)
• dembanger
• shout pole

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor

I’m probably going to regret this, but today I’d like to share some items from a list I found on the topic of gender-neutral terms. I know there are those out there who are tired of hearing the latest “politically correct” terms—I am sometimes torn about them myself. While I don’t feel like I could work a “man hour,” I always laugh when I am told “You are not a diabetic, you are a person with diabetes.” Honestly, after 36 years of injections and blood tests, I don’t care what you call me—diabetic, pin cushion, junkie—it doesn’t really change the fact that my pancreas doesn’t work.
I’ve selected just a few of these terms from a long list, based on my curiosity and personal amusement. I hope they open your eyes as they did mine. Happy Friday!
Following is a list of gender-specific words and terms with their recommended gender-neutral equivalents.

Instead of this…	Use this…	Examples and commentary
boss man, boss lady	boss, supervisor	“Hey boss, you want anchovies wit’ dat?”
brakeman (bobsled)	brake operator	I get upset when I am trying to stop my bobsled and Shane calls me a “brakeman” instead of a “break operator,” but if he calls me a “conductor’s assistant” one more time I’m jumping off when we reach top speed.
brakeman (train)	conductor’s assistant
Dutchman	Dutch person	<Cue sounds of a stormy sea> The sailors spoke quietly of the phantom ship of legends; the vessel that was doomed to sail the seas forever without ever reaching port. It was with great reverence that they spoke of this ship, The Flying Dutch Person.
fall guy	scapegoat	Something tells me that the ‘80s show, The Fall Guy, wouldn’t have lasted five years had it been named The Scapegoat.
Johnny-on-the-spot	prompt person, right-on-time	Exchanging “Johnny-on-the-spot” with “prompt person, right-on-time” just sucks all the life out of that description for me.
king-size	huge, very large	Mmm…no more “King Size.” It’s the new “Huge, Very Large Size” Kit Kat!
masterpiece	great work of art	Wow. I’d never taken the word “masterpiece” apart and considered it a piece of art that only a “master” could create. And even these days, the masters in guilds can be male or female, such as master weavers. I don’t think calling something “a great work of art” means quite the same thing as calling it a masterpiece.
mother lode	main vein	“I’ve hit the main vein!” Local prospectors mistakenly arrested for yelling about shooting smack.
penmanship	handwriting	Hmmm. Another word (penmanship) that I’d never considered weighted toward one gender over the other.
prodigal son	returning child	The prodigal son – memorable story from the bible. The returning child – common story of today’s college graduates.
snowman	snow person	“In the meadow we can build a snow person And pretend that he is Parson Brown.” I wonder how many snowmen and snowwomen have been offended by this oversight in the past?
taskmaster	supervisor, tyrant	Taking away “taskmaster” also takes away the umph behind the message. “Geez, that Fran in Sales is a real supervisor!”
toastmaster, toastmistress	toast maker	Okay, Toastmasters! Time to change your name to “The Toast Makers.”
Uncle Sam	U.S., United States	Yeah, I don’t even know what to say about this one.

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor

Today I have another tidbit in response to a question from one of our avid readers.

Dear Editrix,
I’ve seen people use the terms “recurring” and “reoccurring” in documents. Which one is correct?

Sincerely,
Curious in California

Dear Curious,
According to our dictionary, both words mean “to occur again.” With a little more research, however, I’ve uncovered the following subtleties:

• Recur – To happen again repeatedly at regular intervals

Example:
The arguments and shouting recur at 5:00 each day, when 500 people clock out and try to walk through the two lobby turnstiles.

• Reoccur – To happen again once or more than once; not necessarily repeatedly or recurring (unpredictable)

Example:
Tales of “random cupcake appearances” have reoccurred since Jackie returned to work.

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor
619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773
www.symitar.com

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Good afternoon, fellow travelers. I was reviewing some of the questions I have tucked away in my mailbox, and here are some questions I get a lot:

• Why did you use the word “whether” instead of “if”?
• Aren’t “whether” and “if” interchangeable in this sentence?
• What is the rule about using one instead of the other?

What is the rule? Well, we’ve been doing this for some time now, and you must know that there is never just one rule! Here are a few rules to help you navigate the rough seas of English, from BizWritingTip.com:

1. If you are expressing a simple condition, use “if.”

   Examples
   If you can’t attend, please let us know. (Contact us only if you can’t attend.)

   If you are going to attend, do you want to carpool? (We won’t expect to carpool, if you are not going.)

2. Use “whether” if there are two alternatives—even if the alternative is only implied.

   Examples
   Please let us know whether you can attend. (You should let us know your plans either way.)

   Let’s discuss whether this is the right thing to do—or not.

3. Use “whether” after the infinitive form of a verb. (These are the verbs beginning with “to.”)

   Examples
   I am trying to decide whether I should work overtime.

   I need to know whether we can hire a part-time person for the summer.

4. “Whether” and “if” are interchangeable if the answer would be yes or no.

   Examples

   She tried to remember whether she had replied to his email. (Yes, she did.)

   She tried to remember if she had replied to his email. (Yes, she did.)

5. “Whether” and “if” are interchangeable in “whether/or” or “if/or” constructions.

   Examples

   I would like to know if the figures are accurate or they are estimates.

   I would like to know whether the figures are accurate or they are estimates.

Note: “Whether” is considered the more formal word. If you are writing a report or a formal letter and have the option of using “whether” or “if” (rules 4 and 5), I would use “whether.” If you are writing an email or an informal letter and have the option, then use “if.”

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor
619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773
www.symitar.com

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Today’s word for a certain type of other words is demonym. No, it isn’t another way to call someone a devil; demonym is derived from the Greek word for populace (demos) plus the suffix for name (-onym). A demonym, also referred to as a gentilic, is the name for a resident of a locality. For example, a resident of Seattle is a Seattleite; a resident of New England is a New Englander.

In English, we have many different ways to form demonyms for other countries, states, and cities. Here are a few common suffixes and examples, and some irregular demonyms toward the end, but for a much heftier list see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonym.

-(a)n

• Hungary → Hungarian
• Utah → Utahn

-ian

• Brazil → Brazilian
• Calgary → Calgarian

-nian

• Panama → Panamanian
• Toronto → Torontonian

-in(e)

• Argentina → Argentine
• Florence → Florentine

-ite

• Denver → Denverite
• Wisconsin → Wisconsinite

-(e)r

• Amsterdam → Amsterdammer

• Auckland → Aucklander
• Netherlands → Netherlander

-(l)ese

• Aragon → Aragonese
• Benin → Beninese
• Bhutan → Bhutanese
• Congo → Congolese
• East Timor → East Timorese

-i

• Somalia → Somali (not Somalian)
• Tajikistan → Tajikistani (also "Tajik")
• Yemen → Yemeni
• United Arab Emirates → United Arab Emirati
• Uzbekistan → Uzbekistani (also "Uzbek")

Irregular

• Liverpool → Liverpudlian
• Lyons → Lyonnais (from French)
• Mumbai → Mumbaikar (either gender)
• Naples → Napoletano/a
• Nice → Niçois
• Parma → Parmesan in English, Parmigiano in Italian
• Bali → Balinese
• Chechnya → Chechen
• Denmark → Dane
• Isle of Man → Manx

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor
619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773
www.symitar.com

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A few weeks ago, someone asked me about some of the idiomatic phrases she’s heard and where they come from. The particular example was “butter (you/me/we) up.” I have tried to find the origin, but to no avail. Most of my resources just define the phrase, but don’t provide any (believable) explanation. I did stumble across a site that offers explanations for some phrases. Follow me in my time machine to this article from listverse:

Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride
This phrase, surprisingly, was used to sell Listerine mouthwash! To promote their product, the manufacturers of Listerine employed the personal experience of girls at the time, who desperately wanted to settle down but seemed always to be left on the shelf. First used in the 1920s, it portrays a situation and a possible explanation for the lack of success these girls had. Here is the transcript of the ad:
Poor Edna was getting on for thirty and most of her girlfriends were either already married, or about to tie the knot. How she wished that, instead of being their bridesmaid, she could be the bride! However, any romance of hers invariably ended quickly. There was a reason. Unbeknownst to her, she suffered from bad breath and no one would tell her, not even her closest friends. The advertisement sold millions of bottles of mouthwash and also gave the English language a new saying!

Article and graphic from: listverse

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor

Good morning! I think congratulations are in order because we’ve all made it this far. This is the last of the homonym sets from the Spelling, Vocabulary, and Confusing Words list. The “X” and “Z” categories are empty, so we’ll finish up with the letter “Y.” I may have added a little to one of the definitions. 🙂

yoke harness for oxen; the word “joke” as pronounced by someone with a Swedish accent
yolk yellow center of an egg

yore long past
you’re contraction for you are
your possessive pronoun

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor

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Today’s writing tip is about compound possessive subjects.

What is a compound subject? It is a subject that consists of two or more simple subjects that have the same predicate. In other words, it is several nouns that share the same verb. By adding possession to the mix (that sometimes tricky apostrophe s), people start to panic, and often end up with subjects and verb tenses that disagree. Let’s have a look at some examples and you’ll see what I mean.

When the subject (a single noun) owns something, the apostrophe s is placed after the noun:

• Lucrezia’s necklace
• Buster’s pork chop

When the subject is compound (two or more nouns) and both own the same thing, the apostrophe s is placed after the last noun:

• Lucrezia and Amalie’s necklace (two owners, one necklace)
• Buster and Bella’s pork chop (two dogs, one pork chop = trouble)
• Lacey, Alicia, and Maggie’s hobby shop (three owners, one shop)
• The stein was Tony and Edith’s. (one stein, two owners)

If each part of the compound subject owns different things, then the apostrophe s must be added to each:

• Lucrezia’s and Amalie’s necklaces (two owners, two necklaces)
• Buster’s and Bella’s pork chops (two dogs, two pork chops = peace)
• Lacey’s, Alicia’s, and Maggie’s hobby shops (three owners, three shops)
• The steins were Tony’s and Edith’s. (two steins, two owners)

When personal pronouns are used (I, you, he, she, we,or they) the situation is a bit different; the apostrophe s goes on the noun only, and the noun should come first.

• Lucrezia’s and her necklace (noun first, pronoun second)
• Buster’s and my pork chop (noun first, pronoun second)
• Lacey’s, Alicia’s, and her hobby shops (nouns first, pronoun second)
• The stein is Tony’s and hers. (noun first, pronoun second)

For a short quiz and more information, see English Grammar Revolution.

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor
619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773
www.symitar.com

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Is it really Monday today?

Last week’s e-mail about pronunciation brought some interesting responses. I’m with many of you—I think the writer of the article could stand to be less bossy and she needs to get out more. Paraphrasing what a coworker said, “If I pronounced forte as fort, my friends would correct me and think I’d lost it.”

Today we’ll do some homonym pairs and trios, which are pronounced the same regardless of spelling. Note: Words covered in earlier lists have been removed, for example: one and won, rap and wrap. From Spelling, Vocabulary, and Confusing Words:

wade to walk through water
weighed to have put on a scale

wail mournful cry
whale marine mammal

waist narrowest part of the human torso (usually) [KC – Good thing she threw in the “usually.” ]
waste to squander or spend uselessly

wait to be available or ready
weight quantity of heaviness or mass [KC – What is this? The list of nagging homonyms? Weighed, weight, waist…I get it!]

waiver a relinquishment of some right
waver to feel indecisive; vary

warrantee person who is given a written guarantee
warranty written guarantee
manatee large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows
[KC – What a great mascot! The San Diego Sea Cows!]

way direction
weigh to measure mass [KC – You’ve got to be kidding me.]

weak lacking strength
week seven days starting with Sunday

wear to carry on the body
where in what place?

weather state of the atmosphere in a location
whether if

weave to interlace thread or yarn to make a fabric
we’ve contraction for we have

were past tense of are
we’re contraction for we are

wheeled moved on wheels
wield to exercise power; to handle a weapon effectively

which what one?
witch sorceress

while during or in the time that
wile a trick to fool, trap, or entice

whine complaining cry
wine fermented grape juice that becomes an alcoholic beverage

whined past tense of whine, complained
wind what one does to keep a watch ticking on time (pronounced like kind); air current (pronounced like sinned)
wined to supply with wine

whirled spun rapidly
world planet Earth
whorled shaped like a coil

who’s contraction for who is
Example: Who’s at the door?

whose possessive case of who
Example: Whose coat is this?

wood tree trunk material
would expressing an intention

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/01/florida-manatee.html

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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