wordsintotype

The Correct Way to Abbreviate 2010

It's not even ’10 and already I'm annoyed.

Granted, I'm annoyed year-round. But at this time of year, when, like the two-faced Roman god Janus, we are at once looking back at the old year and looking forward to the new, I've got a scowl on both my faces.

Folks, it's time to learn about apostrophes.

When abbreviating a year, remove the first two numbers and indicate the omission by using an apostrophe:

• 2009 becomes ’09 (not ‘09)
• 2010 becomes ’10 (not ‘10)
• 2525 becomes ’25 (if we're still alive)

Notice I said apostrophe, not single opening quote. In other words, if you see the little punctuation thingy curling toward the right, it's wrong. If its little tail is pointing left, it's right. Got that? (See above.)

Sadly, blog software like TypePad's automatically inserts straight quotes for all apostrophes and single quotes. You'll see that all the apostrophes in this post are straight, except for the ones I changed by manually inserting the html code.

So please, learn the code. My faces hurt.

Sighted. Cited.

"The top green stories of the ‘00s"

–Headline on the home page of Grist, December 31, 2009

That Which Be Who's You

Oops. Your interactive is showing. Yes, you. The web writer who used that instead of who.

To oversimplify, here is the rule for relative pronouns: That is for animals and things. Who is for people.

Correct:

The web writer who used that instead of who.

Incorrect:

The web writer that used that instead of who.

Yes, there are exceptions to the rule (see the Chicago Manual of Style, 5.58–5.60). And there are usage experts who argue that no distinction needs to be made (see Theodore M. Bernstein and H. W. Fowler).

I favor making the distinction. I think it makes one's writing sound more dignified, less digital.

To me, that's a good thing.

Sighted. Cited.

"Reynolds' presentation Saturday was preceded by a summary of what JoAnne Berkenkamp has learned in her discussions with all the "lunch ladies" around the state that are dipping their toes into farm-to-school efforts."

—Twin Cities Daily Planet, March 1, 2010

Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Even Me's Do It

Anyone who's known me for more than ten minutes knows how I feel about proofreading. I think everything should be proofread before it's published or printed. That goes double for restaurant menus.

Here at wordsintotype, I don't have my own personal proofreader. But I can make a good case for one. Yesterday I posted a piece about capitalizing headlines ("Is You Is or Is You Ain't?"). To my horror, I noticed  later that it contained a big fat error. I had used the word capitalize when I meant lowercase. I fixed it, but not after a lot of people saw it and thought what a schmo I was.

Most people's writing needs proofreading. It is a rare person who can write flawlessly and have the distance to effectively proofread her work too. I've been an editor and proofreader for years. I can almost smell a mistake—in other people's work. Once I write something, I cease to be able to see it objectively. My weaknesses are leaving out words, transposing words, and (see above) simply using the wrong word.

The spell-check tools in word-processing programs are great. People should use them. But proofreading is so much more than misspelled words. It takes a human being to notice when the wrong word is used or a factual error has been made. Most companies don't hire proofreaders anymore because they don't understand what proofreaders do and therefore don't value their skills.

Who knows what errors this post contains. Sadly, there are probably a few unemployed proofreaders out there who could read this and let me know.

I rest my case.

Is You Is or Is You Ain't?

When I was a magazine editor, the first thing I did when I hired someone was to tell him or her to read the middle section of the Chicago Manual of Style. And then memorize it. Some people thought I was joking. Just wait, I'd say to myself, someday you'll be as big a style nerd as I am, and you will think fondly back to the days when you were paid handsomely to sit in your very own office and read about the vocative O.

The section of the Chicago Manual I had them read contained chapters on grammar and usage, proper names, numbers style, and punctuation. (The Manual recommends the use of the serial comma, which you might have noticed in the previous sentence.) One of the rules this section covered was the correct capitalization of words in a headline. An editor cranked out a lot of headlines in the course of a career. Knowing what to capitalize needed to come as naturally as knowing when the editor in chief needed a cigarette (yes, I'm talking about those days).

Easier said than done sometimes. Capitalization, that is. There is a simple general rule, but there are nettlesome exceptions (see the Chicago Manual of Style, 8.167). Since this is the digital age and you're already getting bored, we're going to skip the exceptions.

Do: Capitalize every word in a headline except for prepositions (for, to, of), conjunctions (and), and articles (a, an, the).

Don't: Lowercase verbs. Which brings me to the headline of this post. Is is a verb. Just because it is only two letters long, it should not be mistaken for a preposition, conjunction, or article. Capitalize it. Please.

Now get me a cigarette.

Sighted. Cited.

"Language is a Virus"

Headline of a blog post, the New Yorker online, December 28, 2009

"OMG, it's Christmas"

Headline of a blog post, the New Yorker online, December 25, 2009

"Jason Logan, an illustrator, is the author of ''If We Ever Break Up, This is My Book.'"

New York Times, print edition, December 20, 2009

It's a Must for Web Writers

Learn the difference between "its" and "it's." Using the wrong word can quash your credibility.

"Its" is a possessive ("It wagged its tail"). "It's" is a contraction ("It's [it is] snowing outside.") If you'd rather not learn the grammar, just remember this: his, hers, its. They're all possessives; none of them has an apostrophe.