Word Wise

Updates to AP Style, Part I

While the Associated Press Stylebook is published annually, apstylebook.com sends out regular e-mail updates to subscribers. They’re not only a useful way to maintain standards but a reminder of both how the English language and the world in which it's spoken continue to change, as well. Here are some recent updates (and accompanying AP commentary) that you may find useful and will, no doubt, at least find interesting. Marseille: Preferred spelling for the French city. Q-and-A format: Use Q-and-A within the body of a story. Waitlist: (n.), wait-list (v.) Wal-Mart Stores Inc.: This is the official name of the company, which has headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. Use Walmart when referring to the retail stores. CEO: Acceptable in all references for chief executive officer. Use chief financial officer and chief operating officer on first reference, and CFO and COO thereafter. Always spell out lesser-known "C-level" positions like chief administrative officer or chief risk officer. G-20: Use a hyphen in the abbreviated form for the Group of Twenty, made up of representatives of industrial and emerging-market nations. A general description rather than the full name is preferred on first reference: Leading rich and developing nations. New entries to the AP Stylebook: Abu Sayyaf, Al-Aqsa, Ashoura, hajj, Hamas, Haram al-Sharif, Hezbollah, hijab, iftar, intifada, Jemaah Islamiyah, kaffiyeh, niqab, Somali, Temple Mount and Wahhabi. Abu Sayyaf: Muslim separatist group based in the southern islands of the Philippines. The name is Arabic for father of the sword. AP announced updates on the words and phrases minimally conscious state, vegetative state, and coma, as well. Should you need this information, please let me or your family physician know.

The Wicked Which

“Which” or “that”? That question, which has been on my mind lately, is more easily answered than you’d think. If you can tell what’s being referred to without the words “which” or “that,” use “which.” If you can’t, use “that.”   And that’s that.   For example, here‘s an instance where you can remove the “which” phrase and the original meaning of the sentence is still abundantly clear: “'Avatar,' which was in 3-D, will sweep the Academy Awards.” Lose the phrase between the commas – “which was in 3-D” – and you still understand the sentence. "'Avatar' will sweep the Academy Awards.”   But read this: “The movie that swept the Academy Awards was in 3-D.” Remove the “that” phrase – “that swept the Academy Awards” – and you’re left with “The movie was in 3-D,” which wasn’t the point I was making at all.   A few tips to remember: Imagine “by the way” following every “which”: "Avatar, which [by the way] was in 3-D, will sweep the Academy Awards." The “which” adds a useful but not grammatically necessary piece of information. So, if “by the way” makes sense, use “which.” If the phrase needs a comma, you probably want to use "which." Notice how commas bookend the "which" phrase above but not the "that" phrase. As Patricia O'Conner, author of Woe Is I, has written: Commas, which cut out the fat, go with which, never with that!

Don't Believe It

Nothing’s better than drinking ABC brand of fruit juice while sharing a quiet walk with your dog along the ocean at sunset, so says the brand. Few experiences are as cherished by families as cross-country car trips to see Grandma, notes a brand that believes its products promote family togetherness. Nothing's better? Few experiences are as cherished? Really? I like fruit juice as much as the next guy, and the dog, ocean and sunset are a nice touch. But I can think of plenty of things I like better. And as for a 3,000-mile trek across this great land of ours, have you tried that lately, complete with one kid in diapers and two more strapped in back zonked out from too many videos or wired on candy? Fun such a trek may be at times, and memorable, too, but a week trapped in the car with the kids? Maybe those memories aren’t so cherished after all. Phrases like “nothing’s better than” and “few experiences are as cherished” are typical of what we often write in press material. We use these empty superlatives because we’re trying to talk our readers – and probably ourselves – into believing that the product or event or service about which we’re writing is more important than it is. That if we write it, it will be so (hmmm, I never thought about it that way. . . nothing is better than drinking o.j. while walking Fido at sunset). But overplaying our hand as communicators is sure to backfire. Phrases like these ring hollow because they are hollow. As a reader I’m halted in my tracks; I know such and such isn’t the best whatever, and I know you know, and you know I know, and you also know I know you know. So just who are we kidding?   Overselling our clients' endeavors simultaneously undermines their objectives. If you feel like you have to make up stuff like this, think again – 99.99 percent of the time the products and services we represent as marketers have redeeming features or support good causes and ideas. They serve a purpose and it’s our job to communicate enthusiastically but truthfully about them.     Good writing is honest writing. And honest writing keeps things in perspective.