135 lines
3.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
135 lines
3.5 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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4640399
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-----
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# Style notes 15: February 10 2009
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3:31PM GMT 16 Feb 2009
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Dear Colleagues
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One of the problems with spellcheckers is that they do not always supply the
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correct word. I fear this could explain some moments of confusion recently
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when we have used homophones inadvertently. Examples are: hoard and horde;
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lumber and lumbar; stationery and stationary; wringer and ringer; malt and
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moult. Do check back what you have written to try to avoid mistakes such as
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these.
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Recent grammatical slips include bored of instead of bored with, data used as
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a singular noun, screen used as a verb, less used for fewer, latter used when
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there are more than two items in a list, and uncertainty over when to use
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"compared with" and "compared to". The style book gives guidance on these
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matters. Someone who is runner-up has come second, and not in any other
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position; there may be runners-up if no distinction is made between the
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placings of those who have not won. We must avoid the Americanism "appeal the
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verdict" when in English the correct form is "appeal against the verdict".
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Also, please avoid superfluous words in constructions such as "test out",
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"lose out" and "up until"; and we recently had the tautology "a pair of
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twins".
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It is not our style to use the noun "chair" to describe anything other than an
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item of furniture. It is our style to use "tons" instead of "tonnes". Use of
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the phrase "rolled out" is becoming cliched, as in "the programme will be
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rolled out from March". "Introduced" is an acceptable substitute.
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When we refer to the present Government either as a noun or an adjective it
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requires a capital G. Foreign governments and past British governments have a
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small g. Also, please check the exact wording of the names of governmental
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departments. These change regularly and can be confusing. For example, it is
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the Department for Work and Pensions, not of them.
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It is important that news stories should be in reported speech. This applies
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to write-offs of interviews (as they are a report of the event having taken
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place) but not to interviews themselves in the news pages.
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Finally, and on the subject of capitals, please be careful not to use
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trademarks as generics. We have had representations recently from Portakabin
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about this.
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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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[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/4640399/Style-notes-15-February-10-2009.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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