=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 3, no. 27 (5 July 1998) Editorial mailing list Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: Q & A---previous queries [2dx] References to unpublished material [2dy] On the subject of the word 'data' [2dz] Vanishing adverbs [2ea] What is a wonk? [2eg] Broadcast pronunciation of Web site and email addresses [Offshoot of [2dy] 'Data'] Q & A---new queries [2eh] Usage---fine-grained sand, etc [2ei] Use of initials [2ej] Jargon and symbols FYI [3co] Q&A Guidebook to Copyright in the Visual Arts [3cp] ausculture, Australia's Cultural Network discussion list Business matters---new posting [4ax] Tracing out of print books [5] Bookmarks [6] Just for fun [8] Administration =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[2] Q & A --------------------------------------------------------- ** [2dx] References to unpublished material Date: Tues, 30 June 1998 From: Miles Markus, milesm@iafrica.com Deborah Shaw wrote: > There are exceptions, but in the US most institutions call the > document submitted for a master's degree a thesis and the > document submitted for a doctorate a dissertation. At the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, it is the other way round! +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2dy] On the subject of the word 'data' Date: Tues, 30 June 1998 From: Miles Markus, milesm@iafrica.com Michele Clarke referred to "math" (the US word for "maths"). They also talk about "pant" for "pants". I.e. in the US, this can refer to trousers, not necessarily to the heavy breathing kind of "pant". Come to think of it, it is indeed a single item of clothing that is worn. One at a time. Except, perhaps, on a particularly cold day in mid-winter. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2dz] Vanishing adverbs Date: Mon, 29 June 1998 From: Hilary Powers, HPowers1@compuserve.com Josephine Bacon writes: > I too have noticed increasing use of the hanging participle, which > is very frowned upon in English and sounds rather ridiculous in my > view. The biggest offenders are writers of the highly illustrated > books which I am often called upon to americanize or translate. > Cookery writers, in particular, write appallingly, regularly saying > things like "add the filling, then pour the custard over". Over > what? "Growing to nearly 12 inches long, the marrow is simply a > large courgette", and similar horrors. I usually try and improve > the style while americanizing, since I know that if the American > publisher sees such dreadful writing, they will reject the book or > at least ask for that passage to be rewritten. Er, neither of these examples looks like a dangling participle to this California editor. They're a little awkward, but not that bad. In the first the implied subject of both clauses is "you" - the one adding the filling and then pouring the custard (over *it* is implied, and would certainly be clear to a reader on this side of the Atlantic); in the second, it's the marrow, which grows a foot long and is a sort of courgette, whatever that is. That's a regular usage, though it can be tiresome if overdone.... These are danglers: "After adding the chopped filling, the custard forms a second layer over the tart." "Growing to nearly 12 inches long, you can call the marrow a large courgette." And yes, there is a depressing lot of the real thing going around - I've even heard people *say* them.... But an author whose perfectly legitimate opening clauses got axed might well object. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2ea] What is a wonk? Date: Mon, 29 June 1998 From: Gemma Hooper, jcghooper@compuserve.com I don't know about wonk, but Wonk was a koala bear who had adventures with his friend, a boy called Peter. They appeared in very early Ladybird books in (probably) the 1940s. I've still got one, but it's in a box up in the loft and not easy to find. If I try to think of who wrote it, the name that comes to mind is Muriel Levy, but I can't verify this. ----------------------- Date: Mon, 29 June 1998 From: Mary Korndorffer, mary@korndorffer.demon.co.uk While I am sure modern usage relates to political nerdity, I can confirm that Wonk was a koala belonging to Peter in very early Ladybird books, and I'm talking 1949 edition. 'The Adventures of Wonk' by Muriel Levy (Auntie Muriel of Radio Fame); Publisher: Wills & Hepworth, Loughborough. (Sorry Fran O'S in Australia; this was a very British story!). I am faintly amused that my debut to this erudite discussion panel should be on such an obscure matter, but I do collect children's books. Will try to be more editorial next time. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2eg] Broadcast pronunciation of Web site and email addresses [Offshoot of [2dy] 'Data'] Date: Mon, 29 June 1998 From: Josephine Bacon, Langservice@compuserve.com David Penfold wrote: > Oh, and why can't most newsreaders learn how to pronounce > Welsh place names? It is not just Welsh placenames that BBC announcers get wrong, David. There is (or was) a Pronunciation Unit at the BBC, but it is (or was) only open during office hours and incidents tend to happen in places like Ljubljana at times when it is shut. When I worked in the BBC newsroom, many moons ago, I was often asked for pronounciations as people knew I was a linguist, and the same happens to my daughter now that she works in BBC News Online. But I have heard some utter horrors and *no one* at the BBC or anywhere else on television realises that the *only* part of a Russian name which is *never* stressed is the "ova" in a woman's name, although the "ov" in a man's name is often stressed. What is even more infuriating is that the BBC persists in calling an interpreter a "translator". It is an appalling example to other people, because if I remonstrate with them they can claim the BBC as a reference! +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2eh] Usage---fine-grained sand, etc Date: Mon, 29 June 1998 From: Roger Jones, Publishing@rjpc.demon.co.uk Why "fine-grained sand" and "three-storeyed house", and not "fine-grain sand" and "three-storey house"? And is a "four-leafed clover" luckier than a "four-leaf clover"? +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2ei] Use of initials Date: Mon, 29 June 1998 From: Robyn de Jong-Dalziel, rjdrobyn@wxs.nl Can anyone shed any light on an alleged English convention which states that the names of people with only one initial should be written in full whereas those with two or more initials may be written with initials. Example: William Brook but W.G. Brook I have never heard of any such rule but the (Dutch) author of a text I am editing insists that this is what she was taught when learning English at the university here. The question has arisen in the context of a guide to Dutch museums. Each museum is represented by a very brief list of details one of which is the name of the director. Incidentally, one of the directors is a 'baron'. I have the feeling that it's 'not done' to include such titles. What do you think? +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2ej] Jargon and symbols Date: Thurs, 2 July 1998 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@zetnet.co.uk I always regard it as a bad sign when a manuscript includes the words "paradigm" and "contextualise" on the very first page. It looks set to be a long cold summer, since there are 999 equally jargon-ridden pages following this one. So, my question: the word for "that which may be differentiated" - is it "differentiable" or (the equally ugly) "differentiatable"? Authors who love jargon also - apparently - love keyboard- challenging symbols. So does anyone happen to know the name of a symbol that looks rather like a "continental" number 7 (I feel another lengthy discussion coming on here), written by someone who is slightly the worse for wear? The context - in case it helps - is a quotation from a 1931 book by Kurt Gödel saying "... any formal system [7] that can be finitely describable, consistent, and strong enough to prove the basic facts about elementary arithmetic: [7] is incomplete, and cannot prove its own consistency", where [7] stands for the elusive symbol. ---[3] FYI ----------------------------------------------------------- ** [3co] Q&A Guidebook to Copyright in the Visual Arts Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 From: Robert A. Baron, rabaron@pipeline.com The College Art Association (CAA) Committee on Intellectual Property (CIP) plans to publish a guidebook of questions and answers pertaining to copyright issues of concern to art historians, scholars and artists. The committee is distributing this call for questions on copyright to a variety of Internet discussion lists. Questions submitted may be about any aspect of copyright law related to how the Visual Arts are used by scholars, teachers and artists. Topics may include, but need not be limited to international law, rights of artists, use of the public domain, publishing issues, use of World Wide Web, distance education, multi-media, assembling teaching and research archives, fair use and obtaining rights and permissions, student issues. Kindly send your copyright queries and conundrums to Robert Baron, chair CAA Committee on Intellectual Property P.O. Box 93 Larchmont, NY 10538 USA or e-mail them to rabaron@pipeline.com. If responding by e-mail, kindly place the initials CIPQA somewhere in the subject line of your message (e.g. "CIPQA: My topic"). [Cross-posted from Humanist-L] +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [3cp] ausculture, Australia's Cultural Network discussion list Date: Fri, 19 June 1998 From: Editor, Australia's Cultural Network, editor@acn.net.au Australia's Cultural Network, at < http://www.acn.net.au/ > is the online gateway to Australian cultural resources, events, activities, news and websites. The purpose of the ausculture list is to encourage discussion of Australian culture and cultural activities, especially in relation to using the Internet to improve public access to Australian cultural organisations and experiences. Australia's Cultural Network is an initiative of the Australian Federal Department of Communications and the Arts. [Cross-posted from Humanist-L] ---[4] Business matters ---------------------------------------------- ** [4ax] Tracing out of print books Date: Mon, 29 June 1998 From: Chuck Hollingworth, c.e.hollingworth@bangor.ac.uk Where can I lay my hands on about six copies of an out-of-print book for crossword compilers, which I need for teaching in October: Marshall, Evelyn (1988 and new edition in 1996 or so) _Longman Crossword Key._ Harlow, Essex: Longman. ISBN 0 582 03782 4 (pbk). I know about BookLook in the USA. Can anyone suggest a likely source in the UK? Maybe a specialist shop for puzzle fiends? ---[5] Bookmarks ----------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 5 July 1998 From: Iain Brown, i_brown@compuserve.com Who Profits? Online Copyright Concerns for Writers by Jessica Clark Jessica Clark presents a useful overview of online copyright concerns for writers - and therefore for publishers as well. Although her focus is on the Web, the same issues apply to email- delivered content. < http://home.erols.com/samizdat/ACM.html > Electronic Rights: Going Beyond the Grant of Rights Clause, The Publishing Law Center, by Lloyd L. Rich < http://www.publaw.com/articles.html > [Cross-posted from The Emailian, June 1998, with thanks] ---[6] Just for fun -------------------------------------------------- "Lines from the slushpile", no. 41 "You know me," Sammy said. "I never like to lay a gilt trip on anyone." +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ "Beguiling ideas about science", no. 12 There are 26 vitamins in all, but some of the letters are yet to be discovered. Finding them all means living forever. ---[8] Administration ------------------------------------------------ EDline provides the opportunity for a weekly online discussion of matters editorial and editorial business. * POSTING MESSAGES TO THE LIST All messages to be posted to the list should be sent to Iain Brown, at: i_brown@compuserve.com Include as the subject line, "EDline [topic]", where [topic] is the subject under discussion. Topics might include areas such as Grammar, Spelling, American English or Punctuation. Messages should be pertinent to the basic premise of the list; they may be withheld, or redirected if more pertinent to one of the other mailing lists. The spelling and grammar of messages will *not* be corrected, but some editing of length may be undertaken. 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