September 18, 2003: Issue 68
SIM STYLE: Is it OK to combine a partial quote with a full quote?
We try to avoid this in our publications. Before we get to the reasons why, let’s look at an example.
incorrect: The designer says “the light just dances around the room in the mornings. It creates such a warm and inviting atmosphere.”
Notice how one thought ends and another begins, all within the same quoted material? There are grammatical reasons not to do this (how attribution relates to dependent and independent clauses), but that it’s downright clunky should be reason enough. You can almost always fix the problem by moving attribution to separate the partial and full quotes, or simply turning part of the material into an indirect quote.
correct:“The light just dances around the room in the mornings,” the designer says. “It creates such a warm and inviting atmosphere.”
correct: The designer says light dances around the room in the mornings. “It creates such a warm and inviting atmosphere,” she says.
For more information, see Issue 64.
GRAMMAR: Isn’t Earth a proper noun that should always be capitalized?
Always? No. Most of the time, the common noun “earth” (lowercase) is correct.
It can refer to soil, a land mass (as distinguished from sea and sky), or—as
Webster’s 11th puts it—”the sphere of mortal life as distinguished from spheres of spirit life.” When referring to the planet itself, the proper noun “Earth” is correct.
correct: The homeowners removed five truckloads of earth to level the yard.
correct: Just a sliver of earth is visible across the bay.
correct: A simple holiday wish adorns the card: “Let heaven and earth rejoice.”
correct:A breathtaking picture of Earth from space inspired the color choices.