This week, we've introduced a number of updates and revisions to our in-house stylebook, The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. The changes are mostly modest and don't alter our goal of publishing clear, literate prose that is largely free of jargon, journalese, slang and sloppiness. But a lot has changed since 1999, when the stylebook was published. While we have updated many entries over the years, we thought it was time for a more systematic look. (For now, the updated style guide is available only to Times writers and editors. But we hope that the revised version may be published for general readers in the foreseeable future.)
Over the next couple of weeks, After Deadline will highlight a few of the changes.
Of course, we're deleting some outdated entries. Some are obvious - companies or other entities that no longer exist, for example. In other cases, we simply decided that a term was so unlikely to be used that even a prohibition seemed outdated. We don't expect a rash of college girls or authoresses in our pages, despite removing the caution flags from the stylebook. Dated, offensive or insensitive terms like mongoloid or admitted homosexual don't seem to require guidance any longer. And yes, we all know that bikini, for the bathing suit, is lowercase; no reminder necessary.
We couldn't recall anyone ever trying to use baldish instead of balding, so we decided guidance to that effect was not required. And it seems that the battle for debark instead of disembark, always quixotic, is now thoroughly lost, so that entry is gone.
A few other terms were once in the headlines but are now a part of history; we didn't feel they needed entries any longer. A-bomb and Tontons Macoute are examples.
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Let's Get Technical
My colleague Patrick LaForge offers this overview of the online- and tech-related style revisions.
When the print stylebook came out in 1999, many of our readers were unfamiliar with online media. There were no iPhones or iPads. Blogs were still called Web logs. The future founder of Facebook was 15.
As technological change accelerated, we tweaked the stylebook here and there - shortening the World Wide Web to the Web, for example. The latest revisions continue in this spirit.
Many of the day-to-day entries have been revised with digital publication in mind - there are more references to The Times and fewer to “the newspaper.†We have eliminated outdated terms (diskette, DAT). For the spelling of corporate names, we mostly direct editors to official sites, instead of listing names separately in the stylebook, now that nearly all companies are online.
By popular demand, we're removing the hyphen from email. But we'll discourage other newfangled e-terms: keep the hyphens in e-book and e-commerce, for example. Better yet, just call them books and commerce, unless it is worth noting the digital format.
We're also going to follow The Associated Press and others in lowercasing the web. It is acceptable in all references to the World Wide Web, which should be used only for historical references (and keep in mind that worldwide is normally one word).
For consistency, we'll lowercase website and make it one word. Often, the simpler site or a more specific term is better. But the Internet remains uppercase, in line with the most common current practice in the United States.
A new entry spells out our policy on links (link generously, link often, link to related material a Times reader would want to see, link to articles that scooped us).
We've added a new entry on blogs and bloggers that codifies current practice (including a warning against saying a blog when you mean a post on a blog). There's a new entry that codifies our existing practice on tweet (which is somewhat informal, but acceptable as both a noun and a verb for special effect, or in articles about social media). There's also an entry on hashtags, which should be used sparingly.
You may now text a text on a mobile system. And we even offer guidance on LOL, OMG and other online and texting abbreviations (use them rarely and in the way readers are used to seeing them). But we'll hold the line against friend and Google as verbs, except in light contexts or direct quotations, or for special effect.
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In a Word
This week's grab bag of grammar, style and other missteps, compiled with help from colleagues and readers.
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The Booker bestows an author with an instant boost in sales and recognition.
“Bestow†is a transitive verb; the thing given is the direct object. So make it “The Booker bestows an instant boost … on an author,†or use a different verb.
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Whether what they say is true, Mr. Palmer, wearing an Army-style camouflage hat but still in slippers, fled the property, his breakfast of eggs half eaten.
When the “whether†clause modifies a verb, as it does here, we need “or notâ€: “Whether or not what they say is true …â€
Here's what the stylebook says:
whether. Often or not is redundant after whether, but not always. The phrase may ordinarily be omitted in these cases:
When the whether clause is the object of a verb: She wonders whether the teacher will attend. (The clause is the object of wonders.)
When the clause is the object of a preposition: The teacher will base his decision on whether the car has been repaired. (The clause is the object of on.)
When the clause is the subject of the sentence: Whether the car will be ready depends on the mechanic. (The clause is the subject of depends.)
But when a whether clause modifies a verb, or not is needed: They will play tomorrow whether or not it rains. (The clause modifies play.)
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Political resistance to Chinese acquisition of foreign-owned companies, particularly when issues of national security are at stake, have highlighted the dilemma.
The political resistance has highlighted the dilemma, not have.
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His ambitious composition uses both a full orchestra and a Gypsy band, with references to music from Klezmer to rap to Mozart.
Make it klezmer, not Klezmer.
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HONG KONG - The famine that gripped China from 1958 to 1962 is widely judged to be the deadliest in recorded history, killing 20 to 30 million people or more, and is one of the defining calamities of Mao Zedong's rule.
As the stylebook says, for a range like this, make it “20 million to 30 million.â€
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The carrying of handguns is regulated in Texas: many residents are allowed to carry a concealed pistol if they receive a state-issued permit, but they are forbidden from carrying that weapon openly and unconcealed in public.
Make it “forbidden to carry.â€
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The industry would most likely seek to spend money to influence the regulatory process that would determine where exactly the new casinos are, and who operates them, as well as to persuade a future governor and Legislature to ultimately allow full-fledged casinos in New York City or the surrounding areas, which would be much more lucrative because of its tourism and population density.
The overstuffed sentence is difficult to read. Also, the pronoun “its†does not agree with the plural “surrounding areas.â€
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He mentioned Mr. Booker's campaign and Twitter messages to an Oregon stripper, and made a play on words to reference his own momentum.
From the stylebook:
reference is business jargon when used as a verb: She referenced the new transmission standards. More natural substitutes include cite, mention and refer to. But cross-reference (n. and v.) is conversational English.
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He steps outside at 2:30, as the waitstaff, having decided against going out for more drinks, disperses into cabs.
The stylebook discourages this coinage.
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In that case, and in this, much of the outrage has been driven by social media, with the hacking collective Anonymous among the most vocal players, lashing out against people that it believes have failed or mistreated the accuser.
The antecedent was people, so we meant “who it believes have failed …â€
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At 45 feet, they passed a sunken ship, the Honey Bear, and at 85 feet, beneath the buoy line, they saw further evidence of the former marina - steel beams, pilings and sunken watercrafts.
In referring to a boat, the plural of craft is craft. So make this “watercraft.†(This was later fixed online.)
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If you're a Grisham obsessive with a C-note burning a hole in your pocket - not to mention two-and-a-half hours of time to slay - by all means, come on down, y'all!
The hyphens are unneeded and unwanted, and “of time†is redundant with “two and a half hours.â€
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The stakes are high, and getting higher, as demand for tablets has exploded in the last few years.
“High stakes†is a cliché; let's seek alternatives.
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Deepak Chopra, the controversial New Age guru and booster of alternative medicine, lives just below the penthouse on the 69th floor of a Midtown West condominium.
Nearly everything and everyone we write about is involved in controversies, so this modifier often doesn't mean much. What's more, after raising this in the lead, the article never explains the controversy.
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The Red Sox grinded and muscled their way past the Tigers, knocking around Anibal Sanchez for the win and taking a three-games-to-two series lead.â€
The past tense of “grind†is “ground.†Better still, let's avoid this locker-room cliché.
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Never an emotive figure, Mr. Cheney has long been reticent to talk in much depth about the five heart attacks and multiple surgeries he has endured.
“Reticent†means unwilling to speak freely. So he has been reticent about the heart attacks, or reluctant to talk about them. But not reticent to talk.
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Given the astronomic rise in house prices here, he wasn't speaking metaphorically.
“Astronomical†is the preferred form.
