When writing a letter, what form do I use to address a woman? When writing to a married woman, follow her preference for first and last names if you know it. She may prefer to be addressed by her original name (Ms. Joan L. Conroy). If you do know that she is using her husband’s [...]
When do you use an extra apostrophe “s” following a last name ending with the letter “s”?
Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition, 6.24-30 says:
The general rule for the possessive of nouns covers most proper nouns, including most names ending in sibilants (but see exceptions in 6.26-27 and alternatives in 6.30). Kansas’s; Burns’s poems; Marx’s theories; [...]
Monday morning, my brother, David Crook, friend Martha Retallick, and I, went to the Phoenix Zoo. We had a wonderful time.
Retallick recently published a book, Bike-tography. “When I was in my early twenties,” she says, “I set the goal of bicycling through all 50 of the United States. I accomplished this over a twelve-year period, [...]
Have you ever been confused about when to use a colon as opposed to, say, a dash?
When using a colon, think of “as follows.”
A colon can introduce a series of elements or amplify what came before the colon.
Note regarding “as follows”: this applies to run-in lists. If you’re creating a vertical list (maybe [...]
Did you know there’s a business protocol for folding letters? Someone contacted me recently and wanted to know the right way for a letter-size piece of paper to be folded. Here’s what I found out:
For 8 1/2 x 11 paper that is going in a #10 envelope, or other stationery with a No. 9 or [...]
This week I took a course in Plain Language at the Disability Empowerment Center in Phoenix, and learned about the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Plain English/Language/Writing isn’t about “dumbing down,” but rather about clear communication. Among others, those of us who write website content and direct mail copy understand writing to a specific [...]
Is it: et al? et. al? et al.? or et. al.?
Why do people use the phrase et al.? And incidentally, what I just wrote is the right way to punctuate it. A period after the letter “l.”
Merriam Webster’s says the phrase is an abbreviation for “and others.” Same for The Chicago Manual of Style and [...]
Both “ordinance” and “ordnance” are tied in to authority, but very differently. What a difference an “i” makes!
Ordinance is an authoritative degree, a municipal regulation (a law created by a governmental authority), or something decreed by fate or a deity. Think “ceremony,” “practice,” “law,” or “prescribed usage.”
Ordnance is a military term. It means military supplies, [...]
Following is a poem written by my nephew, Jonathan Burton, of Mossyrock, Washington. In the picture above, left to right: Sisters Emily and Keisha, Mother, Cheryl, Jonathan, and Brother Donovan. Jonathan’s other siblings are Jeremiah Williams, Jenna Simek, Michelle Burton, and Andie Burton.
A number of relatives in Jonathan’s generation are very creative, some writing [...]
