MECHANICS:ABBREVIATIONS, NUMBERS, SPELLING, THE HYPHEN

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

LECTURE 30

MECHANICS

ABBREVIATIONS

Use standard abbreviations for titles immediately before and after proper names.

TITLES BEFORE

TITLES AFTER

PROPER NAMES

Mr. Rafael Zabala

William Albert, Sr.

Ms. Nancy Linehan

Thomas Hines, Jr.

Mrs. Edward Horn

Anita Lor, Ph.D.

Dr. Margaret Simmons

Robert Simkowski, M.D.

The Rev. John Stone

Margaret Chin, LL.D.

Prof. James Russo

Polly Stein, D.D. S.

My history prof. was an expert on America's use of the atomic bomb in Work War II.

Use abbreviations only when you are sure your readers will understand them.

CIA

FBI

AFL-CIO

NAACP

NBA

UPI

NEA

CD-ROM

YMCA

CBS

USE (for U.S.A)

ESL

Use B.C., A.D., A.M., No., and $ only with specific dates, times, numbers, and amounts.

40 B.C. (or B.C.E)

4:00 A.M. (or am)

No. 12 (or no. 12)

A.D. 44 (or C.E.)

6:00 P.M. (or pm)

$ 150

We set off for the late early in the A.M. (morning)

Be sparing in your use of Latin abbreviations.

cf. (Latin confer, "compare"

e.g. (Latin exempli gratia, for example")

et al. (Latin et alii, "and others")

etc. (Latin et cetera, "and so forth")

i.e. (Latin id est, "that is")

N.B. (Latin nota bene, "(note well")

Avoid inappropriate abbreviations.

PERSONAL NAME Charles (Not chase)

UNITS OF MEASUREMENT pound (not lb.)

DAYS OF THE WEEK Monday (not Mon)

HOLIDAYS Christmas (not Xmas)

MONTHS January, February, March, (Not Jan., Feb., Mar)

COURSES OF STUDY political science (not poli Sci)

DIVISIONS OF WRITTEN WORKS Chapter, page (not ch, p)

STATES AND COUNTRIES Massachusetts (not MA or Mass)

PARTS OF A BUSINESS NAME Adams Lighting Company (not Adams Lighting Co.); Kim and Brothers,

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

Inc. (not Kim and Bros., Inc)

Eliza promised to buy me one lb. of Govida chocolate for my birthday, which was last Fri.

NUMBERS

Spell out numbers of one or two words or those that begin a sentence. Use figures for numbers that

require more than two words to spell out.

· Now, some 8 (eight) years later, Muffin is still with us.

I counted one hundred seventy six (176) CD's on the shelf.

(One hundred and fifty) 150 children in our program need expensive dental treatment.

Generally figures are acceptable for

1. Dates: May 20, 2007

2. Addresses: 20 The Mall Road, Lahore 54000

3. Parentages: 55 percent (or 55%)

4. Fractions, Decimals: ½, 0.047

5. Scores: 7 to 3, 21-18

6. Statistics: average age 37, weight 180

7. Survey: 4 out of 5

8. Exact amount of money: Rs. 10,000

9. Divisions of books: volume 3, chapter 4, page 189

10. Division of plays: act 3, scene 3

11. Time of day: 4:00 P.M.

ITALICS (UNDERLINING)

Underline or italicize the titles of works according to convention.

Titles of books The Great Gatsby, A Distant Mirror

MAGAZINES Time, Scientific American

NEWSPAPERS the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

PAMPHLETS Common Sense, Facts about Marijuana

LONG POEMS the Waste Land, Paradise Lost

PLAYS King Lear, A Raisin in the Sun

FILMS Casablanca, Independence Day

TELEVISION PROGRAMS Friends, 60 Minutes

RADIO PROGRAMS All Things Considered

Underline or italicize the names of spacecraft, aircraft, ships, and trains.

The success of the Soviets Sputnik galvanized the U.S. space program.

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

Underline or italicize foreign words used in an English sentence.

Although Joe's method seemed to be successful, I decided to establish my own modus operandi.

Underline or italicize words mentioned as words, letter mentioned as letters, and numbers mentioned

as numbers.

Tim assured us that the howling probably came from his bloodhound, Hill Billy, but his probably stuck in

our minds.

Sarah called her farther by his given name, Johnny, but she was unable to pronounce J.

Avoid excessive underlining or italics for emphasis.

In line skating is a sport that has become an addiction.

SPELLING

Become familiar with your dictionary.

noun

adj.

adjective

pl.

plural

adv.

adverb

Sing.

singular

pron

pronoun

verb

prep

pronoun

tr.

transitive verb

conj.

preposition

intr.

intransitive verb

interj.

interjection

Discriminate between words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Affect (verb: "to exert an influence")

Effect (verb: "to accomplish": noun: "result")

Its (possessive pronoun: "of or belonging to it")

It's (contraction for "it is")

Loose (adjective: "free, not securely attached")

Lose (verb: "to fail to keep, to be deprived of")

Principal (adjective: "most important"; noun: "head of a school")

Principal (noun: "a general or fundamental truth")

Their (possessive pronoun: "belonging to them")

They're (contraction for "they are")

There (adverb: "that place or position")

Who's (contraction for "who")

Whose (possessive form of "who")

Your (possessive form of "you")

You're (contraction of "you are")

Become familiar with the major spelling rules.

i BEFORE e relieve, believe, sieve, frieze,

e before i receive, deceive, sleigh, freight, eight

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

EXCEPTIONS seize, either, weird, height, foreign, leisure

Generally, drop a final silent e when adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. Keep the final e if the

suffix begins with a consonant.

Desire, desiring, remove, removable

Achieve, achievement, care, careful

When adding s or d to words ending in y, ordinary change the y to ie when the y is preceded by a

consonant but not when it is preceded by a vowel.

Comedy, comedies, dries, dried

Monkey, monkeys, play, played

If a final consonant is preceded by a single vowel and the consonant ends a one syllable word or a stressed

syllable, double the consonant when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.

Bet, betting, commit, committed, occur, occurrence,

Add s to form the plural of most nouns, add es to singular nouns ending in s, -sh, -ch, and x

Table, tables, paper, papers

Church, churches, dish, dishes

AMERICAN

BRITISH

Canceled, traveled

Cancelled, travelled,

Color, humor

Colour, humour

Judgment

Judgement

Check

Cheque

Realize, apologize,

Realise, apologise

Defense

Defence

Anemia, anesthetic

Anaemia, anaesthetic

Theater, center

Theatre, centre

Fetus

Foetus

Mold, smolder

Mould, smoulder

Civilization

Civillisation

Connection, Inflection

Connexion, inflexion

Licorice

Liquorice

THE HYPHEN

Consult the dictionary to determine how to treat a compound word.

· The prosecutor chose not to cross examine any witnesses.

Grandma kept a small note book (notebook) in her apron pocket.

Use a hyphen to connect two or more words functioning together as an adjective before a noun.

· Mrs. Douglas gave Toshiko a seashell and some newspaper-wrapped fish to take home to her mother.

Pricilla hood is not yet a well known candidate.

After our television campaign, Priscilla Hood will be well-known.

Hyphenate the written form of fractions and of compound numbers from twenty one to ninety nine.

· One fourth of my income goes to pay off the national debt.

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

If a word must be divided at the end of a line, divide it correctly.

When I returned from overseas, I didn't recog-

-nize one face on the magazine covers.

CAPITAL LETTERS

Capitalize proper nouns and words derived from them; do not capitalize common nouns.

Proper Nouns

Common Nouns

God

god

Pakistan

a country

Journalistic Writing

a language course

Virtual University

a good university

Environmental Protection

a federal agency

Dr. A J Smith

a researcher

Capitalize titles of persons when used as part of a proper name but usually not when used alone.

· Professor Margaret Barnes; Dr. Harold Stevens; John Scott Williams, Jr.; Anne Tilton, LL.D

District Attorney Marshal was reprimanded for badgering the witness.

The district attorney was elected for a two years term.

Capitalize the first, last, and all major words in titles and subtitles or works such as books, articles

songs, and online documents.

The Impossible Theater: A Manifesto

The F Plan Diet

"Fire and Ice"

"I Want to Hold Your Hand"

Capitalize the first word of a sentence

· When lighting struck the house, the chimney collapses.

Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence but not a quoted phrase.

In Time magazine Robert Hughes writes, "There are only about sixty Watteau paintings on whose

authenticity all experts agree."

Russell Baker has written that in our country sports are "the opiate of the masses."

Do not capitalize the first word after a colon unless it begins in independent clause, in which case

capitalization is optional.

· Most of the bar's patrons can be divided into two groups: the occasional after work socializes and the

nothing to go home to regulars.

This we are forced to conclude: The (or the) federal government is needed to protect the rights of

minorities.

Capitalize abbreviations for departments and agencies of government, other organizations, and

corporations, capitalize the call letters of radio and television stations.

· EPA, FBI, OPEC, IBM, WCRB, KNBC-TV

Source: Hacker, Dianna. A Writer's Reference Boston: St. Martin's Press. 1992.

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