Tips from Copy Editrix

I Fear for the Nation's Literacy

2005-02-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wonder if it's possible for proper grammar and formal written English could just die out? I was never that worried. Of course, I understood that teenagers didn't really seem to value the language and I was concerned about the shocking number of people who didn't seem to know how to use an apostrophe, let alone know the difference between it's and its. But I really thought that education would prevail. After perusing some message boards, however, I am quite a bit more concerned.

You have to understand that usually, the only message board I really read is the one at Mediabistro , and those people all work, or hope to work, in publishing. Spell something wrong and the other posters may mock you relentlessly. Recently, though, I have ventured into some other message boards, namely those of Entertainment Weekly. What can I say? We all need a little light reading now and then. But I am shocked--shocked!--by the utter lack of language skills demonstrated by some of the posters there. To wit:

THANK YOU!!! FINALLY SOMEONE SAYING WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR AWHILE. WE NEED SOME ANSWERS, A FEW TO WET THE APPETITE. I'M BONE DRY AND DYING. IF THEY DONT START ANSWERING SOME QUESTIONS MY LOYALTY WILL DYE AND I'LL JUST CHANGE THE CHANNEL.

How many errors can you find? Leaving aside the fact that ALL CAPITAL LETTERS imply that one is shouting, I find too many for a 43-word post. Let's start with the exclamation points. One would surely suffice, but it's a stylistic choice, I suppose, and I could accept it, given the casual tone of most bulletin boards. I cannot accept the next sentence fragment, nor can I accept "awhile" as one word in this instance. And why doesn't "dont" have an apostrophe? The poster clearly understands what a contraction is, since she gets it right with "I've" and "I'll." Also, I understand that homonyms are hard for some people, but don't most people learn the difference between "die" and "dye" in second grade? In one case, your life ends. In the other, maybe you end up with a multicolored t-shirt or a different hair color. Big difference, people! And what about "wet the appetitite"? An appetite doesn't need to be moistened. It needs to be sharpened, and that's what "whet" means. Also, who are "they"? I know because of the context of the post, but a noun, not a pronoun, is needed. Finally, the last sentence is desperately in need of at least one comma, or perhaps two. And those are just the most egregious errors! Here's how the post should read:

Thank you! Finally, someone is saying what I've been saying for a while. We need some answers--a few to whet the appetite. I'm bone-dry and dying. If the writers don't start answering some questions, my loyalty will die, and I'll just chnage the channel.

Thank you for your attention to this public service message.

It's vs. Its

2005-01-15T17:29:00.000-08:00

Apparently, no one knows the difference between it's (a contraction of "it is") and its (the possesive of it) these days. Here are two examples:

Celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary, Monster was founded in 1994 as The Monster Board -- the 454th commercial website in the world. (From a monster.com posting)
Cummins Communications is a 10-year-old publishing company in search of a part-time editor’s assistant for it’s content department. This is a part-time position, Monday to Friday, 8:00am – 10:30am, 10-15 hours a week (to start) and may lead to full time. Compensation starts at $12+/hr, depending on experience. (from Craigslist)

Okay, as you probably know, Monster is this big job-search Web site. And what is every job-seeker cautioned to do? Proofread carefully! Monster needs to take that advice to heart. That is, unless the company really meant that it is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of "it is," because that's how the sentence reads.

As for Cummins Communications, well, maybe if the company was willing to pay a better wage, it could find a talented editor's assistant who wouldn't make such a basic mistake. You would have to pay me a lot more than $12 an hour to work for people who apparently do not know even rudimentary grammar.

It's very simple, people. If you mean "it is," use it's. If you mean the possesive of "it," use its. Here are some examples of correct usage:

I once thought that Monster had really great advice for job seekers, but after seeing its recent grammatical gaffe, I'm not so sure.
It's not every day that I laugh at a job posting, but Cummins Communications, with its unrealistic expectations, sure made me smile.

Yes, making sure you're using it's or its correctly requires a few extra seconds of thought. But it means that people like me won't think you're a dullard. You don't want to be thought a dullard, do you? Quite right.

Comprise v. Compose

2005-01-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

Let's dive right in, shall we? This is a bit beyond basic grammar, but it's a pet peeve of mine. Contrary to what a lot of people think, "comprise" and "compose" are not interchangeable. Here's an example, taken from last night's episode of Alias, of the way in which "comprise" is commonly misused:

"[They want] their own SD-6, a unit that officially doesn't exist, comprised of team members who have no apparent affiliation to the CIA."

The people who write Alias are professionals, and even they can't get it right! The sentence should read "...a unit that officially doesn't exist, composed of team members..."

Here's the rule: If you're talking about something in which the parts make up the whole, use comprise. If you're talking about the individual components as part of a group, use compose. Hmm...that's not very clear. Here's an example:

"In kindegarten, we learned that 50 states comprise the United States of America." or
"In kindegarten, we learned that the United States of America is composed of 50 states."

Let's have a little more fun.

"In college, my schedule was composed only of classes that started after noon." or "In college, afternoon classes comprised my entire schedule."

"My dating roster is composed solely of good-looking men under 30." or
"Good-looking men under 30 comprise my dating roster."

Are you getting the hang of it now? It's really very easy, once you practice a little. Just remember, if you're ever tempted to write that something is "comprised of" something else, you've got it wrong. A group is composed of its parts; parts comprise the group.

To be fair, this is a bit of an esoteric distinction these days. But if you have any friends who are persnickity grammarians, they will be impressed with your mastery of this rule.