Posts in category: Style on the Go archive

April 12, 2007: Issue 184

Make your main verbs as strong as they can be. Avoid constructions that reduce the most powerful verb in the sentence to an infinitive.

acceptable: With smart repurposing, she managed to slash the budget by half.
preferred: With smart repurposing, she slashed the budget by half.

acceptable: They decided to abandon their typical beige and opted to splash bold red around the room.
preferred: They abandoned their typical beige and splashed bold red around the room.

For once, we’re on The Donald’s side: Watch a very cranky Donald Trump fire a contestant from The Apprentice for putting the wrong phone number in a prototype brochure. (It happens at the end of the clip.) You can’t check a phone number too many times.

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April 26, 2007: Issue 186

A few notes about our updated software:

• Adobe has taken a lesson from Microsoft. InDesign CS2, like Word, understands that when you delete a word, you want to delete a space along with it. The program doesn’t leave those pesky double spaces anymore. Just be careful if you’ve gotten in the habit of hitting the Delete key twice.

• The new InDesign hides the scripting window (to make fractions, dimension x’s, and contact sheets) in a slightly different place. To get to it, pull down the Window menu and select Automation, then Scripts. If you don’t want to mess with this step every time, drag the Scripting window to a corner of your screen instead of closing it when you’re done. It will show up there in each new document you open.

• The first time you save a document that was created in the old program, InDesign prompts you to do a Save As. Go ahead and overwrite the older file; you’ll have to navigate to the proper folder.

Clarification: At least one editor was horrified when we said last week that not all Palladian windows are arched. Although the Dictionary of Architecture and Construction says the middle section is “sometimes arched,” we recognize that the term is most commonly associated with an arched window. To avoid confusion (and to avoid making Eliot spit out his coffee again), use another term when the window is not arched: divided window, window with side lights.

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May 3, 2007: Issue 187

Capitalize bible when you mean the specific book that is the basis for Christianity:
Many people find stress relief in Bible verses.

Lowercase it when you refer to any other book.
Her guide has become the bible of home decorating.

Similarly, capitalize god when you refer to a single, universal deity:
She credits God as much as her cardiologist for her recovery.

Lowercase god and related terms when you refer to one of multiple deities, or when you use these words metaphorically:
A frieze on the portico depicts the ancient Greek god of wine.
Let this color goddess show you how a simple hue can change everything.

Lowercase related pronouns:
“I sense Allah—his presence and his love—in my garden,” she says.
“In his mercy, God brought us to Dr. Hastings,” he says.

This last rule follows Words Into Type, The Chicago Manual of Style, The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, and The Associated Press Stylebook. But if you’re worried about offending readers, you might be wise to write around the issue, paraphrasing quotes or using partial quotes when necessary:
She senses Allah’s presence and love in her garden, she says.
“God brought us to Dr. Hastings,” he says.

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April 5, 2007: Issue 183

A reader recently expressed her disappointment in us because we described doors as blasé.

Blasé means world-weary: After three visits to Paris in the past year, she was rather blasé about our weekend in Omaha.

Even if inanimate objects could be blasé, that wasn’t the meaning we wanted. We were trying to convey that the doors were dull.

“I think that you meant to say ‘blah doors,’” our reader said. And she was right.

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March 15, 2007: Issue 181

Incorrect pronunciation often leads to incorrect spelling. Here are some words that are commonly said and spelled wrong:
espresso There’s no x sound, and there’s no x.
chipotle The t comes before the l.
masonry Three syllables. It’s not “masonary.”
mischievous There’s an i in the second syllable, not the third. Think of the root word mischief.
triathlon Three syllables. Don’t try to throw an extra a in there.
verbiage Also three syllables. Don’t forget about that i.

And then there are these words that are usually spelled right but often pronounced wrong:
Realtor Two syllables. Rhymes (roughly) with “kneel, sir.”
jewelry The l sound ends the second syllable, not the first.
nuclear It’s pronounced NEW-klee-uhr. Get it right or you’ll sound like that inarticulate, misguided buffoon Homer J. Simpson.

Trademarks ® us: Please note that we’re no longer using a ® in the middle of our group name. It should read Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications®. Find a complete list of SIM trademarks.

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March 22, 2007: Issue 182

We often insert the word up unnecessarily after verbs.

wordy: They demolished a clunky island to open up the space.
preferred: They demolished a clunky island to open the space.

wordy: She mixed up blue and green fabrics for a watery feel.
preferred: She mixed blue and green fabrics for a watery feel.

Up in these cases functions as an adverb, but prepositions have a similar tendency to creep in where they’re not needed.

wordy: He perused through design magazines for ideas.
preferred: He perused design magazines for ideas.

wordy: Roam around the neighborhood and find landscapes you like.
preferred: Roam the neighborhood and find landscapes you like.

Things get especially awkward when we stack multiple prepositions.

ridiculously wordy: They hung posters up around in the neighborhood.
preferred: They hung posters around the neighborhood.

So watch for those pesky little words, and delete the ones that aren’t pulling their weight.

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February 22, 2007: Issue 178

Various procedural and administrative notes:

• Please make separate files for mastheads, rather than combining them with editor’s notes or tables of contents. A masthead can sit in the CE department for a week or more while we wait for credits from the Imaging Center, and we’d like to hold up as few pages as possible. (The exception is bookazines, which run a highly abbreviated masthead, usually combined with the TOC.) And always start fresh with a new masthead template. Don’t copy from issue to issue.

• Speaking of starting fresh, editors in the Garden and Home Design groups should always pull an updated distribution list off The Mall (under Work Session Templates) before they send out contents memos. These lists change all the time.

• Editors and copy editors: When you make a change in kerning, check with the page designer. Talk to the designer in person, or make a note on the layout and highlight it. Depending on the font, even a tiny nudge can have consequences.

• Other than folios, when you change page numbers (TOC entries, page refers in text) after final proof, ask CEs for a spot-check. You can bring us clean proofs or ask us to check on-screen.

• Always fill in dates on routing slips. CEs rely on those dates to prioritize our work. (“Hot” doesn’t help us nearly as much as “2/22.”)

Here’s your reward: Thanks for reading. Now find something much more fun.

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February 8, 2007: Issue 176

We’re eliminating pendent from our SIM vocabulary.

In the past, we’ve used pendent as an adjective and pendant as a noun, but we understand the distinction is lost on many readers. And Web 11 recognizes pendant as both an adjective and a noun.

So pendant it is, in all uses, starting now:
A handsome pendant light picks up the cobalt blue in the backsplash tile.
Barely-there recessed lights and eye-catching pendants work together in the kitchen.
If you’re looking for a gift for your CE, may we suggest a lapis pendant?

Name change: The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has changed its name to Susan G. Komen for the Cure; For the Cure is acceptable on second reference. The fund-raising runs are known as Komen Race for the Cure; Race for the Cure is acceptable on second reference.

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January 25, 2007: Issue 174

Capitalize color names that are specific to a manufacturer:
She used Spongy Moss beneath the chair rail and Hazy Sky above.

In most cases, lowercase generic color names:
Available finishes include ivory, gray, and glossy black.

When a listing is mixed, capitalize all the color names—even generic ones:
The stove is available in Fresh Pesto, Peach Salsa, Sea Salt, and Black.

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February 1, 2007: Issue 175

You immigrate to a country; you emigrate from it:
Lars and Ilsa Feddersen immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s, and five generations of their descendants have lived in this house.
Her grandparents emigrated from Japan, bringing the heirloom tansu chest that now graces her bedroom.

No more subscription calls: We’re discontinuing our subscription phone numbers, effective immediately. Our back-issue phone numbers have already been phased out, so we’ll no longer list any phone numbers to buy magazines. Continue to list Web addresses and postal addresses.

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