Better Writing Skills NewsletterBy
Tim North
Welcome to the Better Writing Skills newsletter.
IN THIS ISSUE
1. Do we use quotation marks or italics to define a term?
2. "Whilst" versus "while"
3. Why does "its" (meaning belong to it) not have an
apostrophe?
4. Just for fun
Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just send email
to:
info@scribe.com.au
Cheers,
Tim North
(Perth, Western Australia)
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1. Do we use quotation marks or italics to define a term?
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My first correspondent this month, Bev, asked how to best draw
attention to a new term that we've introduced:apostrophe
I've done all kinds of research to find the answer, and I
haven't found a "hit" yet, either online or on paper.
How to punctuate:
... blah blah, which is sometimes referred to as abcd.
Does abcd get put in quotes the 1st time it's referred to?
Every time it's referred to?
Italics? Nothing?
Since I can't find any rules I'm assuming it doesn't need any
punctuation.
There are many reasonable choices as Bev has pointed out. It's
quite acceptable to use quotation marks, italics, bold face or
nothing at all. I'm not sure that there's a recognised standard,
so personal preference will play a big part.
A few comments:
1. If your organisation has an in-house style guide, follow the
preferences set out there. Consistency is a good thing.
2. If I were to use quotation marks to introduce a new term, I'd
probably use them only the first time. For example:
This is referred to as a "coordinating conjunction". ...
The coordinating conjunctions occur between independent
clauses.
3. It might sometimes be preferable to use italics over quotation
marks as the latter can be seen as unintentionally sarcastic.
Bev went on to ask
Do you think it's cleaner to say:
... blah blah, which is sometimes referred to as abcd.
or:
... blah blah, which is sometimes called abcd.
Both "called" and "referred to" are fine. The former is shorter,
though, and brevity is generally a good thing.
Hope this helps.
--
(c) 2015 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au
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2. "Whilst" versus "while"
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My next correspondent, Tony, wrote in asking:
My darling wife uses the word 'whilst' a lot. I prefer
'while'.
Hmmm who is more right?
Tony, Tony, Tony. Does it really matter who's right? Just admit
that you're wrong and move on. :-)
Sorry. Couldn't resist.
The general consensus is that both are interchangeable when used
as a joining word, but:
1. Whilst is seen as more formal.
2. Whilst is less common in US English than in British English.
In researching this, I found these lovely quotes reflecting a
variety of opinions:
[Whilst] is also, in my experience, particularly beloved of
students who write bad essays.
I find that contempt for [whilst] is most often harboured by
those who believe it ... to be a sign of pretention.
Personally, I've noted that the use of 'whilst' correlates
directly and exclusively with being British.
--http://goo.gl/EUIYxx [guardian.com]
Hope this helps.
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3. Why does "its" (meaning belong to it) not have an apostrophe?
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My next correspondent, Eleanor, wrote in asking why we don't use
an apostrophe in "its" in sentences like this one:
What is its publication date?
As a quick refresher, "it's" (with an apostrophe) means "it is"
or "it has":
It's clear to me. (It IS clear to me.)
It's been a long time. (It HAS been a long time.)
"Its" (without an apostrophe) means belonging to it:
Has its paint faded yet? (The paint belonging to it)
Are its cables plugged in? (The cables belonging to it)
So, why do the former have an apostrophe and the latter don't?
I can think of three reasons:
1. If both usages had apostrophes, it would be harder to tell
which meaning you intended as they'd both look the same.
2. No other pronouns (for example: his, hers, theirs, ours) take
apostrophes in English, so we're being consistent.
3. Ultimately, it's just a convention.
Hope this helps.
--
(c) 2015 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au
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4. Just for fun
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You may find this next web site entertaining (or possibly deeply,
deeply depressing). It collects examples of wildly inappropriate
uses of quotation marks:
www.UnnecessaryQuotes.com
Cheers,
Tim.
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(c) 2015 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com au
Copyright © 2015 Tim North All Rights Reserved
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