Posts in category: Style on the Go archive

September 18, 2008: Issue 256

And she’s checking it more than twice. Cindy updates group e-mail lists at least once a week. Save yourself some trouble and use these lists instead of trying to keep your own. You’ll find them in your drop-down e-mail contacts if you type SIM in the “to” field.

The lists include:
SIM Admin
SIM All Groups
SIM Creative Collection
SIM Food Group
SIM Garden Group
SIM Health Group
SIM Home Design Group
SIM New Media Group

And the Eebie goes to … Erich Gaukel, for his editor’s letter in the fall issue of Renovation Style. This column is a nice mix of personal anecdote, peek behind the scenes, design history lesson, and news you can use. Erich receives a commemorative paperweight.

(The Eebies, named for E. B. White, are occasional awards that recognize outstanding use of language. Make a nomination.)

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June 13, 2002: Issue 26

SIM STYLE: Do I use a comma or a slash to separate a photographer’s name from the studio name on credits?
Both. It is usually not SIM style to include both the photographer and the studio name, but there are some exceptions. In those cases some use a comma, and some use a slash. But they are not interchangeable. Follow the style on the credits list.
 correct: Steve Hall, Hedrich-Blessing
For more information, see the Credits section in the SIM Stylebook, or Issues 12, 20, 63.

GRAMMAR: Is passive voice always wrong?
No. It’s true that using active voice usually keeps writing peppier, but that doesn’t mean the passive need always be avoided. The passive voice is sometimes a better choice if the person or thing doing the action can be inferred or is not of interest.
passive: Slate tiles were laid on the diagonal for visual interest.
active: Workers laid slate tiles on the diagonal for visual interest.

Sometimes, it’s a matter of emphasis. In the following sentence, rewriting to the active voice would take the focus off the subject, the pendants.
passive: The strikingly angular pendent lights were designed by an unknown French artisan.
active: An unknown French artisan designed the strikingly angular pendent lights.

Then, of course, there’s this classic example:
passive: The suspect was arrested at a local market.
active: Officer Lopez arrested the suspect at a local market.
Which matters more to you? The arrest, or who made it?

The bottom line: Stick with the active voice in most cases. But if it just doesn’t sound quite right, think about what you’re really telling the reader. If you’re struggling to make a sentence active, and the passive voice just sounds more natural, it’s probably the better choice.

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December 11, 2008: Issue 268

You might have noticed Wal-Mart’s new logo, which has no hyphen and a lowercase m (along with a starburst at the end). But the company name remains Wal-Mart, and that’s how we’ll continue to treat it in text.

This follows our style of referring to companies by their corporate names, not their logos. The best resource to find a company’s name is the “About Us” or “Contact Us” section of its website.

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June 20, 2002: Issue 27

SIM STYLE: Do we use accent marks on foreign words?
Yes. Pay particular attention that the right marks are used with the right letters. Misusing accent marks means a word is misspelled. Follow Webster’s 11th or an appropriate foreign-language dictionary for proper usage.

For a list of the most common accent marks and how to create
them in Word and Quark, see Accent Marks section in the SIM Stylebook.

GRAMMAR: Is there a difference between “despite” and “in spite of”?
Here’s what The Associated Press Stylebook says: “Despite means the same thing [as ‘in spite of’] and is shorter.”

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June 27, 2002: Issue 28

SIM STYLE: What are our rules on hyphenation at the end of a line?
Follow these guidelines to keep your copy looking clean:

• Don’t hyphenate the last word on a page.
• Don’t hyphenate the last word of a paragraph; the final line should include a complete word.
• Don’t allow two or more consecutive lines to end with a hyphen.
• Don’t hyphenate ragged-right copy.
• Don’t hyphenate one word within an already hyphenated phrase; break the line on a hyphen that’s already there.
• Avoid hyphenating display type, such as headlines and intro blurbs.

It’s true that getting rid of some hyphenation can improve the look and flow of copy. But arbitrarily getting rid of ALL hyphenation in justified type creates awkward spacing and unsightly gaps between words that are far more distracting for readers than hyphens would be. Hyphenation within these guidelines is fine.

For more information, see Issue 61.

GRAMMAR: Is it mettle, meddle, medal, or metal?
Here’s a clue! A clue!
correct: Having proved their mettle by solving the mysterious amusement-park haunting, Scooby and friends—once considered nothing more than a group of meddling kids—were presented with a medal of platinum, a precious metal.

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Issue 284 April 9, 2009

Woodburning is one solid word when it refers to the craft:
He took up woodburning to decorate his handmade chess boards.

Hyphenate it when you describe an oven or a fireplace:
A wood-burning pizza oven produces an exquisitely crisp crust.

Want to feel smart? Wheel of Fortune got the hyphen right in a segment last fall, but the contestants were stumped. Check out their guesses.

Want to feel even smarter? Watch Who Wants to Be a Millionaire contestants struggle with simple punctuation and parts of speech.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Opinions expressed by other viewers of these videos do not necessarily reflect the views or taste of Style on the Go or Special Interest Media.

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July 11, 2002: Issue 29

Update 9/14/17: See Punctuation/Commas and company names.

SIM STYLE: What parts of business names should I abbreviate?
Always abbreviate Co., Cos. (Companies), and Corp. Also abbreviate Inc., Ltd., and LLC, and set them off with commas.
correct: The Sherwin-Williams Co.
correct: Brown Cos.
correct: Meredith Corp.
correct: Hi-Lite Manufacturing Co., Inc.
correct: Grohe America, Inc.
correct: Duralee Fabrics, Ltd.
correct: Architectural Products by Outwater, LLC

Write out all other words, including Industries, International, and Manufacturing.

Note: Words that are part of a company’s proper name (such as The Company Store or The Limited, Inc.) are not abbreviated.

GRAMMAR: Is it “hone in” or “home in”?
It’s “home in.” You can hone a skill, but if you’re setting your sights on something, you’re homing in on it. Think of homing pigeons when you see this phrase, and you’ll never confuse the two words again.

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July 2, 2009: Issue 296

He orders a beer and settles on a stool. He hears a voice beside him say “Nice tie.” The guy looks right and left, but he’s the only person at the bar. He takes a drink, and the voice says “Cool haircut.” The guy shakes his head, blinks his eyes, and takes another swig. The voice pipes up again: “You’re one handsome man.”

“Hey,” the guy says to the bartender. “I keep hearing this voice. What’s the deal?”

“It’s the peanuts,” the bartender says. “They’re complimentary.”

The word complimentary describes a bowl of peanuts—or anything else—that’s either flattering or free. When you want to say that something works well with something else, use the word complementary.

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September 17, 2009: Issue 306

Please open this PDF for a special illustrated issue. Our thanks to Katie Leporte for designing it and to the SIM chapter of the Britney Spears Fan Club for being good sports.

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October 15, 2009: Issue 310

The f-word got plenty of press after an actress blurted it out on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. But for our Web sites and publications, the word she was supposed to say wouldn’t have been much better.

We don’t use the f-word, and we don’t use its close cousins fricking, frigging, freaking, or flipping—not even in quotes. They’re all sound-alike stand-ins for the big vulgarity, and they have the potential to offend.

We’ll close with this exchange from a recent work session:
Garden editor—Did you know the f-word can be any part of speech?
Copy editor—It can’t be an article or a preposition.
Garden designer—Oh, you can get prepositioned with it!

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