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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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December 22, 2009: Issue 320

Please open this Pdf for a holiday message form the CEs.

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February 11, 2010: Issue 327

This week, instead of a style edict, were sending a valentine. Its to Jeff Deck.

Even if you dont recognize his name, Jeffs story is probably familiar: He and Benjamin Herson pleaded guilty of conspiracy to vandalize government property in 2008 after they fixed a typo on a sign at the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, the hand-painted marker was considered a national historic landmark. Jeff and Benjamin were ordered to pay more than $3,000 in restitutionand to stay out of national parks for a year.

While we dont condone vandalism, we did send a little money to help defray the mens court costs. Thats how we ended up on the e-mail list for their Typo Eradication Advancement League, which recently relaunched its Web site.

If you consider yourself heroically persnickety (Jeffs fabulous phrase), show TEAL a little love. Join the crusade and find tidbits such as this one: Youre mom is a typo.

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March 4, 2010: Issue 330

Dont let diseases or disorders define people. They are something a person has, not something a person is. Mention a disease or disorder only when its relevant to a story, and dont use it as a label.

incorrect: John, a diabetic
incorrect: an autistic child

correct: John, who has diabetes
correct: a child with autism

Avoid loaded verb phrases such as struggles with, is a victim of, or suffers from. In these cases, your best bet is plain old has.

Use similar care in writing about people who have mobility issues. Dont say, for instance, that someone is confined to a wheelchair, which is literally untrue. Instead, say the person uses a wheelchair.

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January 23, 2003: Issue 48

SIM STYLE: Where in the world is … ?
Many of the terms that show up frequently in SIM are derived from or are similar to place names. But that doesn’t mean they’re always capitalized.
Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the most common.

CAPITALIZE 
• Adirondack chair
• Brussels sprouts
• Key lime
• Persian rug
• plaster of Paris
• Provençal
• Roman shade
• Shasta daisy

LOWERCASE
• bristol board
• japan (varnish, style)
• mecca (general usage)
• paisley
• portland cement
• saltillo (tile)
• spartan (general usae)
• venetian blinds (Note: Most other “Venetian” terms are capped—”Venetian glass,” “Venetian red.”)

There are plenty more. When in doubt, check the SIM Word List first, then Webster’s 11th. If Webster’s notes “often cap,” capitalize the term accordingly.

Note: Wine and cheese names, in particular, are commonly derived from place names. You can find lists of both with proper capitalization in the Food section of the SIM Stylebook.

For more information see Issue 18.

GRAMMAR: Should I use “toward” or “towards”?
“Toward” is preferred. The same is true for other “-ward” words: backward, forward, upward, downward, etc.

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January 17, 2002: Issue 6

SIM STYLE: Why do the copy editors keep changing “chaise lounge” to “chaise longue”?
Because while the Americanized “chaise lounge” may be acceptable in many
corners, the French “chaise longue” is technically correct and more accurate for our purposes here in SIM. It should not be set in italic type.

For more information on how “chaise longue” became “chaise lounge,” go to
www.m-w.com/mw/textonly/wftw/51397.htm, or see Issue 49.

GRAMMAR: What are you talking about?
Are you itching to rewrite this to “About what are you talking?” Probably not; no one talks that way. Why, then, do we writers and editors take pains to avoid ending sentences with prepositions? Blame Robert Lowth, an 18th-century clergyman and amateur grammarian who established that guideline (even he never intended it as a hard-and-fast rule). For whatever reason, it stuck. Lowth’s logic was based on Latin grammar. But in English, it’s quite common for prepositions to fall naturally at the ends of sentences. Modern grammarians will tell you it’s also quite correct. Use your ear. Rewriting a sentence to avoid a terminal preposition does, in fact, sometimes make it more elegant. More often than not, however, it leaves you with a jumbled, contrived mess. Adopt Winston Churchill’s attitude on this “rule” (“This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put”), and simply write what sounds most natural.

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