h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Help Page Update: *English Usage in the Edited Guide* - A41950046
Author: Alex Tufty Ashman [!] - U566116


This Entry is a Help Page Update of EditedGuide-Style. Please feel free to comment on ways in which this Entry can be made more accessible and easier for new users to understand.

See The Help Page Update Project at A38093402 for more details.

Alex

I have a suggestion, but it's a bit late to explain. Remind me tomorrow.

Is it tomorrow yet?

In half an hour, yes.

I wanted to mention hyphens and dashes, because they're often confused and I think it's quite an interesting subject in parts. Mind you, I often look at the page source of webpages just 'out of interest'...

'To an extent, parentheses (( )), semicolons (, dashes (-) and footnotes are interchangeable (okay, we can't do real en-dashes and em-dashes, so hyphens will have to do).'

Well, for a start, this is wrong. The code for them is — and –. Using a hyphen in place of an em-dash - for example, like this - is bad typesetting. And having the space between the dash and the word is also incorrect.

To see how to use them correctly, see the 'Mind Your Ms and Ns' section of A896231. Em-dashes should fill the entire gap between the words they sit between. For some reason, American Researchers seem to be infinitely better at understanding this than us Brits. Most people on this side of the pond use either a hyphen, or put a space at the ends of the em-dash. EMR used to patiently correct every one in every issue of , something I confess I don't have the patience for. I'd say 95% of people get them wrong every time they use them.

The bit that I find interesting is the fact that we have a new medium here.

Punctuation evolves just as language does, albeit rather more slowly. Nowadays, most people have access to a keyboard, and I have yet to see one that has either an em- or en-dash upon it. We don't really need to; unless you're a perfectionist, a hyphen has exactly the same effect. It's easier to type, too - you're not going to type — every time you want to use one, and in fora like this it won't even render. 95% of people will never notice anyway, and most of the other 5% aren't too bothered.

Now I love em- and en-dashes, if used properly (I actually presume a certain level of intelligence and attention to detail in the author when I do). But I think they're a dead duck on the Internet. You can't type them or use them in fora, so you're never going to get them accepted for general use.

As this is a style guide, I think you should either suggest that people use hyphens with spaces either side (as is the Internet convention) or that they can use either hyphens or em-dashes (but briefly explain how to use them properly).

Here endeth the lesson. Please stand.

***

The section titled 'Zoological Taxonomy' should read simply 'Taxonomy'. It applies to all branches, not just the animal kingdom.

And should it have a snappier title? The h2g2 Style Guide, something like that?

Will this do?

Almost

En-dashes are also used to show a range of values (eg January -- March) or to create a compound adjective where neither of the words modifies the other (eg Duckworth--Lewis method).

I would suggest, though in goes against my personal preferences, that the spaced en-dash is preferred, simply because there is less scope for odd-looking text wrapping on screen.

'...botanical or zoological taxonomy...'

This would be better simply as 'biological taxonomy', or we'll be upsetting the microbiologists out there.

There's already a clear rule stating that hyphens with spaces should be used in a number series:

>>>In the case of number series such as 'in the years from 1998 to 2000' and 'Serves 4 to 6 persons', if you'd like to use hyphens to indicate the sequence, annotate the numbers like this 1998 - 2000, and 4 - 6, ie a hyphen with a gap on either side.<<<

Yes, but I thought this was an update?

There's also a clear rule in the old one that says 'we can't do real en-dashes and em-dashes, so hyphens will have to do'. So dashes weren't being considered at all. There's no reason why we can't use them, is there?

I'm not suggestion that you replace that, merely offer the en-dash as an alternative when you talk about usage of dashes.

Ok, sorted

I'm going to be very picky, for obvious reasons. You might want to invite Peet or Ridest Elf to take a look too - they're very good at spotting grammatical errors.

should be "first person singular" (no hyphen).

First-person as an adjective is OK, though (as you mention elsewhere).

Is this last bit true? I've been getting it wrong in that case, and I'd need to change my other Help Page Updates - please confirm.

I'd say either "to a footnote is a link to" or "One alternative to using a footnote is linking to..."

'Subbing' sounds a bit colloquial for this entry - I'd say 'sub-editing'

Why use the passive voice here? I'd say "Use headers to break up..." You have other examples of this, but this one grates most.

Icy

I've made those changes. As for "We capitalise 'Edited Entry', 'Guide Entry' and the 'Guide'..." - that's what the rules said in the old version, so that's what they say here, too.

It's the capitalisation of the word Entry outside of these phrases that confuses me.

I know we tend to capitalise 'Entry', but there's no actual rule on it.

sounds like a rule to me.

Oh, I thought that only referred to using the word 'entries'.

I see your point - we should probably be writing 'entry' and not 'Entry'.

Email sent

Grammar and Punctuation



"This is just the beginning of something that could become encyclopedic." Sounds like a description of the entire Guide.



Couldn't help but notice this:

[be used]