Writing "Since" for "Because"

Many writers are confused about the use of "since" and "because" and think the former always means the latter. According to one of several GrammarCheck newsletters: When used as a conjunction, especially at the beginning of a sentence, since" can be used in place of "because." According to one of our academic sources, "since" has been used in this manner since the 14th century.

Although that website refers to "academic sources", I can find no credentials for the site's administrators or content providers. So, I'd go with the library's usage views. If you look up "since" in "The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved...." at Answers, for example, you'll find the word listed mostly (seven of eight meanings) as an indicator of time passed.

"Since" can be used as an adjective, a preposition, or a conjunction, and two of the three conjunction uses are time-related. In the example the dictionary provides for the use of "since" to mean "inasmuch as" or "because", the example places the conjunction at the beginning of a sentence: Since you're not interested, I won't tell you about it. No, seriously, that is the example sentence given!

In light of the facts that so much of the meaning of "since" has to do with time, try to avoid using it to indicate causality. When you're tempted to use it, take a pause and type "because".

Writing "Try"

LAST DAY TO ENTER THE CONTEST

It's quite difficult for me to turn off the editor in my head (known informally as the condition "ed head"). When I read or hear the phrase "try and" instead of the correct "try to", a shudder shakes my spine. Bad grammar grates my nerves like nails scraped on a chalk board. Why should we not "try and"? Well, we can, but only if we really mean two different actions and punctuate the sentence correctly.

Consider what the writer or speaker really means when asking someone to "Try and get there on time". I think the phrase requests someone to be on time. If the conjunction "and" is connecting two verbs, "try" and "get", what else is to be "tried"?

In the case of "try to walk without crutches" connected to "be careful of the curb", the correct shortened construction would be "Try, and be careful". In this case, the conjunction connects two independent clauses and usually needs a comma. Incidentally, in all these examples, the subject of each clause is understood to be "you", even though it is not written or spoken.

When you're tempted to use "try to" or "try and", expand the sentence to its whole meaning to determine which word to use after the verb "try". Try it; you'll like it!

Reference from The American Heritage Dictionary:

USAGE NOTE The phrase try and is commonly used as a substitute for try to, as in Could you try and make less noise? A number of grammarians have labeled the construction incorrect. To be sure, the usage is associated with informal style and strikes an inappropriately conversational note in formal writing. Sixty-five percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use in writing of the sentence Why don't you try and see if you can work the problem out between yourselves?

via Answers.com

Beach Reads for Writing

One hot read this summer for English language lovers is
Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning, by Sol Steinmetz. In it you'll learn how many of our terms evolved from completely different original meanings. The section on how the word "nude" came to mean "naked" is especially provocative. ("Nude" was formerly a legal term indicating something was unenforceable or void.)

Angry at the rising prices at the pump? I joked that I emptied my bank account into my gas tank. Some blame the Chinese, some blame the government, and some point at OPEC, the oil cartel, a syndicate controlling oil prices. The word "cartel", however, started out meaning a card or paper on which an agreement was written. That's not difficult to hear in the pronunciation. Steinmetz credits the Germans for transforming it into symbolizing a nefarious organization with the signing of a "Kartell" in 1887 supporting the political leader, von Bismarck.

My fave is "silly", the tag I use on the Saturday posts herein. Amazon notes that:

Before the year 1200, the word silly meant "blessed," and was derived from Old English saelig, meaning "happy." This word went through several incarnations before adopting today's meaning: "stupid or foolish."

Writing may can you With Might

For some people, confusion reigns supreme over the use of 'may' and 'might' and about the uses of 'can' and 'could'. Perhaps I should include 'will' and 'would', 'shall' and 'should', but you'll get the picture from the first two pairs.

The problem with 'may' and 'might' comes about because both can (oops!) be used in the present tense, but the word 'might' is also the past tense of 'may'. Using 'might' in the present, as in "I might go to town today" indicates a conditional situation less formal or probable than "I may go to town."

But you can also say, "I hoped I might go to town", all in the past tense, where 'may' is not the right word. This is similar to 'can' and its past tense 'could'. You would not write, "I hoped I can go, but I knew I can't." Just doesn't sound right, yes? You would (oops! again) use 'could' and 'couldn't' in that sentence.

Try out variations of a very basic sentence, substituting the other pairs of verbs, when you find yourself confused over whether you should (oops! thrice) use 'may' or 'might'. I might end this now before I confuse us further. And then again, I might not. But I shall. And I should.

Editing for Length

A nonfiction book writer at a brunch yesterday complained the university publisher insists on reducing the book's size. Physical size? No. Word count? No, page count. "Well, that means cutting out words," I said, "and it's best done in large swaths."

The soon-to-be author looked at me bleakly. "I'm editing it myself, and we agreed to eliminate one whole background section on .... Now it's down to finding words to take out."

"How much reduction are you required to make?" I asked, worried for this writer. Almost one third of the material has to go. "You're never going to make it by taking out a word here and there. Whole paragraphs, maybe chapters must go." (This presumes a well-organized manuscript.)

"Let's keep in touch," the author said with enthusiasm. "I may need your help this summer. The book must be finished this season." An experienced writer recognized the fact that we fall in love with our words, so deeply that we cannot gain enough perspective to see which ones can go and which must stay. It's akin to snow blindness--a flurry of words, each one exquisitely unique and valuable.

Writing With Semicolons

More often than not, when I edit manuscripts, I notice that people no longer use semicolons. Those who do seem to be confused about their use. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, a semicolon most often joins two independent clauses. For example:

The dog chased cars; he never caught one.

The two clauses are independent, meaning each could stand alone and make sense. The semicolon creates a pause, much as a comma does. Because the two clauses are joined in one sentence; however, the semicolon's function is more like that of a full stop, a.k.a. in the U.S. as a period. This use holds true even if a transitional adverb is used to introduce the second clause:

The dog chased cars; indeed, he caught one, but didn't know what to do with it.

Another semicolon use that I seldom see is to take the place of a serial comma when punctuation appears within items in the series:

The dog, in an effort to appear mighty, chased cars; ran after cats, sometimes several at the same time; and caught no cars, a few cats, birds, and insects. This use is often found in long, complex sentences. Breaking down the example: the dog chased, ran, and caught. This is a series of actions. Within those three active verb elements are modifying phrases containing commas; hence, the need for a serial semicolon.

All right (notice it's not 'alright') all you other nitpicking editors, find the mistakes in this post and tell the world in a comment.

Keywords for Writing Websites

Did you ever wonder how many search engines scan the Internet? The search engine optimization (SEO) company Trellian claims to gather data on 36 billion searches performed on 200 search engines worldwide. Scroll down the referenced web page to see a list. Impressive, huh? Only three really matter, though, when it comes to fiddling with keywords.

If you have a website to promote yourself and/or market your writing (and every writer and book needs one), you should be concerned about keywords. They are are the text that search engine users type into the little rectangle next to the Search button. Part of the secret to raising your site's rank in search engine returns is knowing what keywords are most pertinent to your site's content.

Most new visitors to websites arrive via keyword searches. Once your site is up and running, don't take much of a break from optimizing. Frequently test your old and new keywords with the three top search engines. In July 2007, these were Google, Yahoo and MSN, according to Search Engine Watch, comprising 87% of all searches performed.

Build English Vocabulary

MSN's Encarta is bundled with my MS Word 2003 as the de facto dictionary. The Encarta website contains many useful articles and some funny quizzes. Don't try the President Bush's English Quiz, though. The links I tried went to an empty page. Oh, wait! Maybe that's the joke.

All kidding aside, I think "Ten Tips to Build English Vocabulary" is quite useful. Strategies to help memorize new words include:

• choose words you're interested in
• associate a color with each word
• use the words in your imagination
• write pieces using new words
• relate a picture to a word

It sounds a lot like advice for learning people's names--the relationships and use. Repetition is a powerful learning device. When I was learning a larger vocabulary, I bored people silly using the new polysyllabic terminology (big words) in conversations until they were cemented in my mind. The words, not people.

Speaking of MS Word, a client sent me documents in the newer .docx format. I dutifully downloaded and installed the Microsoft converters for my software version. Then I opened the client files. It worked--not so good. The process is like gestating elephants, long and difficult, at least for the computer. The results warn of format and permissions changes. I could not extract photos, at least not easily, and separate them from the documents. It's either time for me to upgrade or remember to start asking for files to be converted to my preferred format. Let's see, who's the parent here? No, scratch that. Who is in charge? What would you do or expect?

Writing with Adverbs

Quickly, think of an adverb. (Hint: the first word of this post.) The adverbs most often cited end in "ly". That's close, but not a comprehensive answer, because other words that don't end in ly are also adverbs. For example: most, often, well, sideways, edgewise, and very are all adverbs.

You may have heard adverbs described as words that modify a verb (the action part of a phrase). That is true, but still incomplete. Adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs. And an adverb isn't limited to a single word, sometimes appearing as a phrase or clause.

Adverbs modify other parts of speech by indicating factors such as where, what (extent or kind), when, how (much, frequently or often). Below are some examples with the adverbs italicized:

Rickie went slowly to the door.
Susan thought well of the teacher.
Doing the work too fast leads to mistakes.

The last one displays an adverb (too) modifying another adverb (fast).

Using adverbs frequently (there's one!) is out of fashion these days, at least in writing and according to some editors. Why? Because you can show the same effect by using strong, specific or colorful action verbs. This improves fiction writing, but there's nothing wrong with spicing up your nonfiction a little, and it can be a mainstay of creative fiction, whatever that is. Here's how, using the same three examples:

Rickie shuffled to the door.
Susan admired the teacher.
Racing through the work causes mistakes.

I like adverbs, as long as they don't prop up weak verbs like have, do, and forms of to be. Sprinkle them judiciously throughout your writing, and I'll let them pass.

Editing Common Writing Errors

Finding mistakes in your own writing can be an exercise in frustration. Even editors and publishers admit a piece of writing can pass through edits by several different people, "And," as UT Books editor Arthur Salm said, "still errors appear in print." You've probably seen most of the editing methods suggested for finding errors in your copy or manuscript. You may use a word processing program with a built-in spelling and grammar checker, even having numerous options you can adjust. Any combination of methods physical and electronic will catch typographical errors and limited punctuation problems as well as some grammar and syntactical issues.

Other sources of mistakes, however, often defy the eyes and brains of both writers and editors. The website Common Errors in English is an exhaustive/exhausting list of transpositions, sound alike, tense, and more difficulties compiled by Paul Brians' brain. Get it--brian/brain? Altogether (or is it all together? I'm so confused!) in one compilation with links to explanatory pages, Brians offers help for the mystified purveyors of English language. His service could probably help ESLs, too. That's people who are learning English as a second language.

Master English Words - VOA

When I was growing up in southwestern Ohio, way out in the country near a tiny town called Mason, a field of very tall radio towers reached toward the clouds. From far enough away, on a clear day, a viewer could see the towers were topped by large antennas. A little sign, I think, indicated they were broadcasting Voice of America programs. We were going to talk the mean Russians into submission. (It was the Cold War era.)


Eventually I learned what the Voice of America did and then thought little about the activity until I discovered the digital version, VOA News.com. Better yet, the service provides a Wordmaster section subtitled "A Weekly Analysis of American English". It features grammar, idioms, slang, regional English, topical issues and an archive of articles/programs. What a wonderful resource for American writers, as well as its intended audience overseas. And it is a virtual wellspring of more resources. Peruse the list of programs, and you'll see what I mean.

Correct Pronouns Make Wise Writing

Walking home from school, children pass within ten feet of my open windows. How many times do I hear "Charlie and me got extra homework," or "Her and I hit the food court"? The problem is that American children are obviously not being taught when to use which form of pronouns. Even the adults admit to confusion about "who" and "whom", some advocating that we just do away with the objective version (whom). Here's a little list to clarify what I'm talking about: SUBJECTIVE PRONOUNS are I, he, she, they and who; OBJECTIVE PRONOUNS are me, him, her, them, and whom.

If you know how to diagram a sentence (or is that a lost art?), you can determine if the word form required is subjective or objective. A quick way to tell is to put the word in question after a preposition such as "to", "from", "by" or "with". Turn the sentence around, e.g., "The teacher burdened Charlie and me with extra homework!" or "The food court was invaded by her and me." Passive sentence, not so good, but I think you see what I mean. The prepositions call for an object (me, her, him, them, whom). The first versions needed subjective pronouns.

The dreaded "who" and "whom" follow the same rules. But this is where people develop a problem that Jack Lynch of Rutgers University calls "hypercorrection" and wind up sounding pretentious:

Hypercorrection is not simply being fussy or a nitpicker or a pedant. The 'hyper' part, from Greek, means 'too much.' It means working so hard to avoid one potential problem that you end up falling into another one.

The cure he suggests is to substitute one of the other pronouns and find which form sounds right. Imagine Jeeves announcing a visitor, whom he first asks, "Whom shall I say is calling?" If Jeeves had tried out "her is calling", he'd immediately know (if he memorized the chart) that the right way is to inquire, "Who shall I say is calling?" "Who" is the subject of the sentence.

Writers' Attitudes Matter

How embarrassing! I invited everyone to join me in The Writer's Chatroom yesterday, and then I showed up late. Mea culpa! However, the part I caught was a great lesson in writerly behavior and attitude. One dude who claimed to be a successful writer was insulting the others, trashing Steven King (I mean THE KING!) and generally making an A$$ of himself.

I guess if you want to continue the myth of "The Lonely Writer" that's as good a way as any other to ensure you'll be alone. At least his company is not welcome in a gathering of writers and those who aspire to become writers. Or probably editors, either. The fact that we sometimes critique each others' work, does not open the door to criticizing the rest of others' lives.

The big take-away for me was a reinforcement of the truth that the way we talk about other people reveals much more about ourselves than them. Calling others "failures" if they don't write full time, suggests a self-loathing equal to that of Hunter S. Thompson. The way we talk about ourselves to ourselves and others also influences our happiness and success. Find something nice to say, or at least think, about someone else today. Then find something nice to say about yourself.

AWE's a Winner!

Remember that funny list of nine words and one phrase I posted about last month? It was for a contest sponsored by Answers.com, the nice people who provide meanings for words underlined in red here. I didn't half try to throw the words listed into a coherent sentence (the contest called for 750 words or less), and yet I'm honored that they have mentioned A Writer's Edge. Answers.com has links to the rest of the winners who probably wrote much more understandable entries.

100 Words Writers Should Know

From abjure, abrogate, abstemious, acumen, antebellum, auspicious to vortex, winnow, wrought, xenophobe, yeoman, and ziggurat. How many of those words do you know? My Google toolbar doesn't recognize "ziggurat", but then it doesn't recognize the word "toolbar" either, so what does it know? You may have heard these words and think that you know what they mean in a context, but would you know how to use them correctly in your writing? For all my personal wordiness, a friend kindly elucidated the actual meaning of noblesse oblige for me recently. Did I ever have it backwards in my mind! The editors of American Heritage dictionaries selected 100 words that they think all high school students (and their parents) should know. See all the words in this release where the ed said:

"The words we suggest," says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, "are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language."

Contest for Creative Writing

The lovely people who provide answers at Answers.com are having a "creative writing" contest in which you have to use all the words below in a piece of 750 words or less:

• a lick and a promise
• ataraxia
  
• contraband
  
• halva
• mantic
  
• praxis
  
• sapid
  
• semilunar
  
• serendipity
  
• zeitgeist

I thought I'd give it a lick and a promise, seeing as how my ataraxia has abated due to contraband semilunal sapid halva received from a mantic admirer whose serendipity fits the zeitgeist.

Hurry! The deadline is December 21, 2007.

To be or Not to be in Writing

This isn't a career or lifestyle discussion. It's about abusing forms of the verb "to be" in your writing. When I wrote Editors' Bugaboos in Writing, alert author Mary Anna Clemons asked me to elaborate on this topic. She told me it took her years to understand what the advice meant. In short, it is to avoid these words: am, is, are, was, were, will, be, being, been (and the helper verb that form conditional states of the verb to be). Don't use them unless absolutely necessary. Why? Because they are what I call "empty" verbs and using them is wasting words. Remember the call to use action verbs and the active voice. Passive sentences often use forms of to be.

Passive: The field was littered with broken columns.
Wordy: There were broken columns in the field.
Better: Broken columns littered the field.

Wordy: Susan is hit with a two-by-four.
Better: A two-by-four smacks Susan up the side of the head.

Wordy: James had been being an ass.
Better : James made an ass of himself.

Often sentences need rewriting to rid them of to be forms. This is your opportunity to strengthen the sentence with movement and more colorful writing.

Visual Dictionary?

Take a look at Merriam-Webster's new Visual Dictionary Online and tell me if you find it useful. Warning: the website requires Java. The title is a bit misleading, because it isn't really a dictionary. You can try to look up words with the Index, but if they aren't already depicted, you won't find a definition or reference. Granted, I'm not this kind of a visual person (I prefer PCs), so I can't effectively evaluate this service. I tried playing along with the Theme arrangement and found entries that appear to be from an elementary school textbook. The selection is quite limited, too. I don't know why Merriam-Webster's name is on it. I'd be ashamed to call it mine.

Hope for future writers

A bright ray of hope for future generations of writers comes from the old classroom standby, Weekly Reader. Oh, Lord, how I lived for the day our little newspaper arrived, so much more interesting than text books! The smart folks who sustained me through grade school now publish Writing magazine for middle and high school students. This year, it was named as one of the top four magazines in educational publishing by the Association of Educational Publishers. The magazine contains how-to articles, author profiles and student writing. Its goal is to help students build skills in writing that apply across their curricula. Each issue is supplemented with a Teacher's Guide and a literary blog that links content to state and national standards. Students are invited to contribute to the reely kewl blog. The current issue features:

* a teen's experience with blogging for a political campaign

* encouragement from author Mary Pipher, who challenges young writers to use their words for social change

* step-by-step instructions on writing an op-ed piece

* a heart-warming essay by Gary Paulsen

Time and Dates for Writers

What time is it?

Digital clocks might label noon "12:00 PM" and midnight "12:00 AM", but this is incorrect, and readers might be confused. It is better to simply write "noon" or "midnight" when that's what you mean. "AM" comes from the Latin phrase "Ante Meridiem", meaning "before noon". "PM" is the abbreviation for "Post Meridiem", meaning "after noon". In formal writing it is still preferable to capitalize them, but the lower case "am" and "pm" are gaining in popularity and use.

What's the date?

"A.D." means anno domini ("in the year of the Lord" or the year Jesus was born). It isn't an abbreviation for "after death". "B.C.", however does stand for the English phrase "before Christ". Coming into more popular use are the terminologies used by academics and archeologists, B.C.E. "before the Common Era" and C.E. "the Common Era". As with the abbreviations designating time, these can also be used in lower case.

Whichever format you choose, be consistent throughout a piece of writing, as I hope I have been about punctuation inside and outside quotation marks. (I choose to follow the rule of letting the punctuation appear with its logical content.)

Writers Make Up Words

Verbotomy! "Every day we create a new definition and matching cartoon. Your challenge is to create a word -- a verboticism -- that matches the definition. After you create your verboticism, you can vote for other authors's [sic] words to help select the winning verboticism for the definition."

When I visited, the word was:

EARJACULATE

DEFINITION: adj., Pertaining to the sound quality emanating from someone else's earbuds. n., Second-hand sound (i.e. previously heard), which has escaped from a headphone or other personal listening device.

Hmm. Yes, well this is a game, but I find it amusing to just drop in every once in a while to read the funny definitions for made up words that sound like authentic English ones.

English Words Missing Hyphens

Reuters reported on a linguistic catastrophe -- Thousands of hyphens perish as English marches on. Seems that a new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary eliminated hyphens in about 16,000 words. Reuter's Simon Rabinovich blames it on the Internet. Here's what the Shorter OED editor offered: "Printed writing is very much design-led these days in adverts and Web sites, and people feel that hyphens mess up the look of a nice bit of typography," he said. "The hyphen is seen as messy looking and old-fashioned." The shorter dictionary (only two volumes!) unified compound nouns or split them into two words. Decisions weren't whimsical and arbitrary, but based on research into contemporary use, the ed said.

Bill O'Reilly: Out of Context

Checking what's hot in searches today at Google Trends reminded me to post about quotations taken out of context. Why? Because I've observed the current smear campaign against Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly. The first news clip I saw about this fortunately included more of the context of the radio conversation.

He was pontificating on some white Americans' knowledge of black culture being limited to certain music rappers and their nasty lyrics. As a counter-example, he noted how ordinary was the milieu of the black-oriented restaurant in which he was dining. What did some media pick up? Of course, the latter comment, which, taken out of context, sounds like O'Reilly's amazed at how much the soul food crowd resembles white folks.

The lesson for writers is to be very careful with your quotations of others. Try to imagine how they might be used by people with nefarious agendas. Make sure you include enough of the context to allow readers a neutral (I don't dare say balanced) interpretation.

Writers' Words: Bring and Take

Confusion is growing about the use of "bring" and "take". And no wonder. I was watching Hide and Seek last night. The actors consistently misused "bring" when they meant "take". They were in the country, talking about returning to New York with the character played by Dakota Fanning. So, the woman wanted to "take" the child back--except she said "bring". The father suggested waiting two weeks to see if there was improvement and if not, he would "bring" her back (from where they were). No, no, no! If I am HERE, I take something THERE. If I am in San Diego and you are visiting Paris, however, I might ask you to bring me back some perfume (Chanel No. 5, preferably). Bring it here. Take it there. That's the shorthand to remember.