Posts in category: Uncategorized

June 25, 2009: Issue 295

Routing through Legal
Best practices for SIM magazines

On your MIC date, make two copies of the following:
• masthead
• table of contents
• postal ID statement page

Route both copies to Becky King in Legal, along with a Legal Review routing slip (available from the Business Office). Becky will give everything a quick check to be sure that we’re using our trademarks properly and that we aren’t infringing on anyone else’s.

As part of our standard cover routing process, the Business Office sends magazine covers to Legal for review. If you’re already routing covers through the Business Office, you don’t need to make any changes. If you’re not routing your covers through the Business Office, please start.

Trademark reminder: On this site, you can find lists of SIM trademarks and common nouns to use in place of other trademarked product names. Another great resource for checking trademarks is the International Trademark Association.

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May 21, 2009: Issue 290

Last week we discussed heavenly words. This week, let’s head the other direction.

hell, hellacious, hellish
lowercase in all references
     When the contractor disappeared, these homeowners found themselves in renovation hell.
Learn to recognize poison ivy or you’re in for a hellish itch.

limbo
lowercase a state of uncertainty or oblivion; capitalize the place for the unbaptized
     Their travel plans were in limbo while they waited to hear from the cardiologist.
The painting over the fireplace depicts souls drifting in Limbo.

purgatory
lowercase in all references
After the purgatory of an August drought, the garden was blissfully drenched in September.

Theological note: In traditional Roman Catholic teaching, purgatory is a place where souls can be made ready for Heaven. It’s not eternal damnation. Limbo is generally believed to be a permanent not-quite-heaven for babies who die before they can be baptized.

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May 28, 2009: Issue 291

1-800-CUT-IT-OUT

We don’t use letters in phone numbers.

Our reason of long standing is that letters make readers work too hard. Then there’s the potential for confusion between the letter O and the numeral 0. While words might help TV viewers and radio listeners remember a number, they’re unnecessary in print and online.

With new technology, alphanumeric numbers are moving from inconvenient to impossible. Check out a Treo or BlackBerry keypad and try to guess how to dial 1-800-AZALEAS.

If a company provides only an alphanumeric number, take a minute to translate it into numbers. (And make sure you use an old-fashioned phone.)

Contest: Back when cities had single area codes, New York City’s was 212. Do you know why? Tell us, and you could win a prize.

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April 30, 2009: Issue 287

The word green has taken on new responsibilities in the past few decades, stretching beyond the color spectrum to encompass anything that supports or preserves the health of our planet:
green building
living a green life

The word is working hard already, so let’s not put additional demands on it. Avoid using it as a verb unless you’re talking about something changing color:
My ficus is greening up. Maybe I didn’t kill it after all.

And please don’t turn green into an adverb by adding -ly.

Also, remember that the word can be ambiguous. “Green kitchens” or “green gardens” can be interpreted two ways.

When you need to clarify that you’re using the word in its environmental sense, or if you must use it as a verb, try quotation marks. (This will usually happen in display type, in which case we use single quotes.)
‘Green’ kitchens
10 ways to ‘green’ your kitchen

While we’re on the subject, eco can be a stand-alone adjective:
eco kitchens
eco builders

Hyphenate it as part of a compound modifier:
eco-friendly ideas

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May 7, 2009: Issue 288

Most city and state names can also function as adjectives:
a Tennessee garden
my San Francisco cousins
Minnesota quilters

When you add a suffix, you create a noun for a person who lives there:
a Tennessean who gardens
the San Franciscans in my family
Minnesotans who quilt

Most names of countries, however, need a suffix or a change in form to serve as adjectives:
Chinese tradition
Swedish design
African cloth

Can you tell us why? We’ve searched for an explanation for these rules and can’t find one. Can you? Share it, and you could win a prize.

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March 19, 2009: Issue 282

We’re already working on holiday projects, so let’s talk about a lovely gift to give our readers this year: Banish’tis the season from our copy. It was a cliché before any of us were born.

Here are more expressions and treatments that have been overused:
• anything 101
• color printed in different colors
• color your world
• couldn’t be happier
• fast-forward to …
• labor of love
• outside the box
• postage-stamp-size
• puns on the word suite

When you try to come up with clever wording, the first thing that occurs to you is usually a cliché; that’s precisely why it pops up first. Take a minute more and move down your mental list. You’ll probably find something much fresher.

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April 2, 2009: Issue 283

If something is transparent, light passes right through it. Objects on the other side are clearly visible.

If something is translucent, some light passes through. Objects on the other side are partially visible but not necessarily discernible.

If something is opaque, it blocks light. Objects on the other side are not visible.

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February 26, 2009: Issue 279

Capitalize Earth when it refers to the planet where we live:

These Earth-friendly ideas can save you money.
Taste testers pronounced our flying saucer cookies the most delicious on Earth.

Lowercase earth and related words when they refer to dirt, land masses, or the physical realm of existence:
Landscapers removed nearly a ton of earth.
The colors of earth and sky come together in the soothing master suite.
I have no earthly idea where the last flying saucer cookie went.

Has your database launcher quit working? When you drag the launcher icon into your dock, you create an alias. You have to keep the actual launcher somewhere on your hard drive or the alias will have nothing to link to. Contact a CE if we need to send you the launcher again.

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March 5, 2009: Issue 280

Please open this PDF for a special illustrated issue. Our thanks to Katie Leporte and to Jim Halpert.

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February 5, 2009: Issue 276

Capitalize a title when it comes immediately before a person’s name, describes a designated authority, and is not set off by commas:
President Barack Obama
Pope Benedict XVI
Professor Patricia Prijatel

Don’t capitalize a title that comes after a person’s name:
Barack Obama, president of the United States

Don’t capitalize a title that stands alone:
the 266th pope

Don’t capitalize a title set off by commas, even when it comes before a name:
a Drake University professor, Patricia Prijatel

Don’t capitalize job descriptions:
architect Stephen Herlong
dietitian Jeannette Jordan
chef Cat Cora

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