167 lines
5.8 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
167 lines
5.8 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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7928027
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-----
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# Style notes 26: December 3 2009
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11:29AM GMT 03 Dec 2009
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Dear Colleagues
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These notes tend to concentrate more on grammatical errors and offences
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against the style book than on recording literals - not least because there
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are, sadly, so many of them. However, there have been some real shockers in
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the last few weeks, and we simply have to improve.
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Worst of all was a story that appeared on the web during the controversy about
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Gordon Brown's handwritten letter to the bereaved mother of a soldier. We
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managed to call Mrs Jacqui Janes "Jacqui Jones". I need not labour the horror
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of this mistake. As with so many straightforward errors, it could have been
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prevented by somebody's checking what was written before it was published.
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Such a grave error is truly damaging, and cannot be allowed to happen again.
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Literals are always bad and upset readers, who think we are sloppy. They are
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especially bad, though, when they create the wrong word. In recent times we
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have had "depilatory power", "built an alter", "observation desk", "wreathes"
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(a noun), "diary cows", "vocal cords" and the apparently inevitable "open to
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the pubic". We also managed to call Sarah Palin's memoirs Going Rogue "Going
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Rouge". I repeat: please engage in the fundamental professionalism of reading
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what you write before it is published.
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Agency copy is rarely compliant with our style and must be checked accordingly
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before it is published. It seems that many of those who supply or handle
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agency copy are committed viewers of American television programmes. As a
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result we have had some unfortunate Americanisms in the paper. There is no
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need to write "parking lot" when you can write "car park". Barristers in this
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country are not members of law firms; they work from chambers. Witnesses do
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not "take the stand" on this side of the Atlantic. In this country we have
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railway stations, not train stations. Travelling has two l's in it. Our Armed
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Forces are not "the military".
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We have made some unfortunate terminological errors. Girls are not youths:
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only young men can be. Astrology and astronomy are not interchangeable terms:
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I have noted this before, as I have the differences between successor and
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predecessor, and ancestor and descendant. Nor do the terms "physician" and
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"physicist" mean the same thing. An acronym is not the same as an
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abbreviation. Please look these words up in the dictionary should you remain
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in any doubt; and anyone tempted to use the term "eke out" should do likewise,
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as we seem institutionally incapable of using it properly.
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We make fewer grammatical errors than we used to, but they are painful when
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they happen. For example: note what is wrong with "if the rise of new economic
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powers mean our capacity…." and "wide open spaces - indoors - is what we
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craved". Check your verb agrees with your subject. None always takes a
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singular verb. One of two things cannot be the "most" something; it must be
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"more". "Most" requires three, at least. On a similarly logical note, it is
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hard to imagine how something can be (as we recently wrote) "too premature";
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what is the correct level of prematurity? We reported that an unfortunate
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woman had had her hand "severed off". The "off" was unnecessary. "Myself"
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should not be used interchangeably with "me". It has a specific, usually
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emphatic, use. "At the High Court" is not idiomatic; it is "in the High
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Court".
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On matters of fact: the state capital of Alaska is Juneau, not Anchorage; a
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male cow is a bull; Lloyd's Bank has 3.7 million customers, not 3.7 billion;
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the man who painted the Mona Lisa we call Leonardo, not Da Vinci; what some
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call the Persian Gulf and other the Arabian Gulf we call the Gulf (all are
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happy that way); and the flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
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Northern Ireland is the Union Flag. It is, as several naval officers among our
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readers have recently written to remind us, only the Union Jack when on the
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jackstaff of a British warship at anchor or alongside the jetty.
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Finally, three points to bear in mind in order to maintain our reputation as
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quality media. First, if we are using foreign words (and sometimes it is
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inevitable, though it is to be avoided wherever possible) please check whether
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they carry accents and, if so, apply them correctly. Second, try to avoid coy
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euphemisms beloved of the tabloid press such as " passed away" or "love nest",
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because the readers hate them. Third, avoid stating the obvious, such as when
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we recently informed readers that the Duke of Edinburgh was the Queen's
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husband.
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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/7928027/Style-notes-26-December-3-2009.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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![][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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