135 lines
3.8 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
135 lines
3.8 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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4347967
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-----
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# Style notes 14: January 26 2009
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5:11PM GMT 26 Jan 2009
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Dear Colleagues
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I spoke to heads of department a week ago about five broad areas of writing
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where we can improve. I shall revert to specifics in future notes, but I
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thought it would be helpful to highlight areas where we need to be careful.
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These are all points picked up by our readers, and of concern to them.
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Grammar: for example, we have confused their and there, its and it's and less
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and fewer. We also use nouns as verbs when they are not, such as "battle". We
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have also used the phrases "was stood" and "was sat" when we mean "was
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standing" or "was sitting", and have superfluous words in phrases such as
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"test out" or "park up". One is "bored with", not "bored of", something.
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Foreign Phrases: we have done much better on these lately, notably using the
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phrase "bon vivant" to describe the late Sir John Mortimer where at least two
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of our supposed quality rivals used the erroneous "bon viveur". But do
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remember if you use a German noun that has not passed into English (and is
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therefore italicised) like Lieder or Leitmotif it must have an initial capital
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letter, like all German nouns. And if you are using Latin words that have
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passed into English, such as alumnus, be sure to modify it where necessary for
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number and gender - alumni, alumna, alumnae.
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Words used incorrectly: we have lately used the words "prodigal" and
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"prevaricate" to mean something they do not mean. Also, a crescendo is not a
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climax, but a rising dynamic. We have also confused proscribed and prescribed.
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Armed Forces: many of our readers are ex-servicemen and women who maintain a
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close interest in the Armed Forces and have a good knowledge of them. It is
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crucial to describe regiments and other units correctly, to refer to sailors
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being in a ship and not on it. It is also important that we describe any
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hardware accurately. We recently confused a helicopter with a fighter plane.
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Tabloid usages: it is important to avoid slang in our copy, and to avoid
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exaggeration or sensationalism. We do not need to say plunge when we can say
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fall, for example. We should say advertisement rather than advert. We should
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be careful of cliches - we recently had a "gunpoint ambush" - and very sparing
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in our use of adjectives in news stories, especially emotive ones such as
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"furious". Also, remember the readers are sophisticated and worldly people. We
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do not need to tell them that the _Radio Times_ is a magazine, for example.
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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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[What are these?][2]
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* Share: [Share][1] [ ][3] [ ][4]
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[Tweet][5]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/style-book/simon-heffers-style-
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notes/4347967/Style-notes-14-January-26-2009.html
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Telegraph
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## [Simon Heffer's Style Notes][6]
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[X][1] Share & bookmark
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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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* [ ][4]
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* [Tweet][5]
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* Advertisement
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![][7]
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Advertisement
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[EDITOR'S CHOICE »][8]
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### [Gil Scott-Heron: 'A voice for Shakespeare'][9]
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Composer, musician, poet and author whose writing provided a vivid commentary
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