186 lines
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Plaintext
Executable File
186 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
topics
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about-us
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style-book
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simon-heffers-style-notes
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4176416
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# Style notes 8: Nov 20 2008
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3:30PM GMT 20 Nov 2008
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Dear Colleagues
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I have exhorted you all to read carefully what you write. I think some of you
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are now doing this, but not always thinking about what it is that you read.
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This can be the only explanation for this week's worst horror (and, sadly,
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there is some competition). We ran a story in Tuesday's paper about a farmer's
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wife who died of a heart attack after a thief stole diesel from her farm. This
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unfortunate lady was called Mrs Dove. Her son is called Michael Dove. In the
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story he became Michael Gove; who happens to be the Conservative spokesman on
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schools. You might think this could hardly get worse. I fear it could, and
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did. Michael Gove not only became the unfortunate woman's son. He also became
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a victim in his own right. The thief "admitted to [sic] the theft of diesel,
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causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Michael Gove and stealing the
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Mitsubishi pickup…" Later, this gem of a piece included the phrase "After his
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was arrest". I shall not bother to try to compute the number of people who
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should have read this story before it appeared on the nation's breakfast
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tables on Tuesday morning. You get my drift.
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There have been so many literals this week that I suspect some of you either
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never could spell, or have given up trying. Perhaps my favourite was "hocky
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mom", followed by "plumb compote" (bring on the lead poisoning). One reader,
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having spotted the words "Chrsitmas" and "adminsitration" in the same story
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wondered whether our newsroom was now being run by "mnokeys". While it is good
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to provide the customers with amusement, it should be intentional. Grammar
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remains a treacherous slope. There is still a difficulty with conjugating the
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verb "to drink". Be in no doubt: the beer was drunk, but the man drank the
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beer. Page 6 of our modest but robust little style book contains a description
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of the difference between "may" and "might". They are not interchangeable,
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oddly enough. Do feel free to have a look at it.
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Please remember that nouns take adjectives and verbs take adverbs. A pair of
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shoes could be easier to walk in, but they are walked in more easily. We
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allowed the phrase "me and my colleagues" to appear in the paper the other
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day, and not in quotes, which was close to unforgiveable. As for where "a man
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cut off his head with a chainsaw because he did not want to leaving his
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repossessed home" came from, I cannot begin to fathom. If you are using
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foreign terms, do use them properly, for many of our readers speak more than
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one language and spot mistakes that should make us cringe. For example: a man
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may be someone's confidant, but only a woman can be his confidante. In formal
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reporting try to avoid contractions such as "didn't" and "hadn't": it looks
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casual and causes your prose to lack authority. If you are "warning" you need
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to warn something or someone: otherwise you are "giving warning".
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We do seem to like to use words or phrases that do not exist. One was
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"adaption". Then there was the account of the moment when the two children of
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President-Elect Obama (note, and indeed cherish, that capital E) "stepped
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foot" inside the White House for the first time. We must avoid vulgarities
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like "front up". If someone is "fronting up" a television show then he is
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presenting it; if he is "fronting up" a pressure group or even a business he
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is leading it. Also we have started to insert definite articles where they are
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not needed. It is not "the" Last Post and certainly not "the" Magna Carta.
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Both are in the style book: feel free, etc etc.
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The style book also reminds us that our readers tend to eat Christmas lunch,
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not Christmas dinner; this is not the Daily Star. Unless we are referring to a
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repast that is specifically to be held in the evening, be careful to refer to
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Christmas lunch in all those mouth-watering articles you are preparing about
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festive food. Somebody actually allowed a piece of copy through this week with
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the adjective "posh" in it (it was not a reference to Mrs Beckham, and nor was
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it being used satirically). It was lucky this was spotted and removed before a
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nasty accident occurred. I repeat: we are not the Daily Star.
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If we are setting tests or quizzes for our readers, do try to ensure the right
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answers really are right. A test for would-be immigrants managed to get the
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voltage figure for this country wrong. It also said that one had to be 16 to
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enter the lottery which, as several readers pointed out, appeared to be hard
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on those aged 17 or more. The answer "16 or over" would have been better. I
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must emphasise again that it is of enormous importance to get styles and
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titles correct, even when they belong to fictional characters. An article on
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the new film Australia this week referred to the heroine as being first Lady
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Sarah Ashley and then Lady Ashley. She cannot be both. In the film she is the
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daughter of an earl, and therefore the first style is correct.
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Talking of names, if we have in future to refer to Nicholas Hoogstraten it
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will be thus; the "van" is an affectation (this is known to some as the "Fayed
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rule"). If we have to use the term Awol we use it thus. It is hackneyed to use
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it in a context other than its specific military meaning. We are dropping back
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into the bad habit of using the verbs "launch" and "fuel" in their
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metaphorical, banal senses: don't, please. We also suggested this week that
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epilepsy is a mental illness: it isn't.
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We have the pre-Budget report next week, which is exactly how we should refer
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to it in all parts of the papers and the website.
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Now, some good news. We have sealed a partnership with Oxford University Press
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in respect of the style guide area on our website. We use their Dictionary of
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English as the basis for correct usage. They have supplied us with a number of
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copies free of charge, for which we are exceptionally grateful. Heads of
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Department who would like one should email Emma Hartley, the style book
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editor, as soon as possible.
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With best wishes
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Simon Heffer
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Associate Editor
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The Daily Telegraph
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/style-book/simon-heffers-style-
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notes/4176416/Style-notes-8-Nov-20-2008.html
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Telegraph
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## [Simon Heffer's Style Notes][6]
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[What are these?][2]
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Share:
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* [ ][1]
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* [ ][3]
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* [Tweet][5]
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* Advertisement
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![][7]
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[EDITOR'S CHOICE »][8]
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### [Gil Scott-Heron: 'A voice for Shakespeare'][9]
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[![Gil Scott-Heron][10]][9]
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Composer, musician, poet and author whose writing provided a vivid commentary
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on the black American experience.
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### [Beekeeping diary: the new colonies arrive][11]
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### [Spectacular light show dazzles Sydney][12]
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### [WS Gilbert: a knight for our times][13]
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### [The Telegraph's Matt is Hay Festival star][14]
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