=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 4, no. 17 (2 May 1999) Editorial mailing list Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: [1] Editorial Q & A---previous queries [2gz] Peculiarities of pronunciation [Offshoot of [2gn] Berks and other insults] [2he] Preferred usage [2hj] Ethnic groups [2hk] Multipliers in column headings [2hl] Freelance group in South Africa Business matters---new posting [4cl] Position available: Medical Editor, Toronto, Ontario [6] Just for fun [8] Administration =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[1] Editorial ----------------------------------------------- Jane Kerr is taking a well-earned holiday for the next fortnight, so please send all contributions for next week's EDline to me at i_brown@compuserve.com or iain.brown@ucl.ac.uk. Thanks. I would like to apologise now to the person who contributed the first message to thread [2hl] Freelance group in South Africa, for not being able to cite their name as the contributor. It was not contained within the e-mail. Iain Brown Moderator ---[2] Q & A --------------------------------------------------- ** [2gz] Peculiarities of pronunciation [Offshoot of [2gn] Berks and other insults] Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 From: David Ibbetson, ibbetson@idirect.com John Woodruff writes > I've just finished editing a book by a UK author. I also had to > incorporate changes made by a reader for the US co-publisher. > The author had written 'ASCII, pronounced "ass-key"'. With very > emphatic strokes of his pen, the reader changed this to read > "azz-key". I'm tempted to leave it as it is. Those in the UK > will have their correct pronunciation given. But is ASCII > pronounced 'azz-key' in the US? If not, would anyone be > seriously misled into wondering what an 'arse-key' is for? I doubt it. It's ass-key in Toronto. Doubtless some US small boys will snigger, but most of them know it's an animal related to the horse. --------------------- Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 From: Hilary Powers, HPowers1@compuserve.com I've never said or heard it as anything but ass-key. (And in California where I am, there isn't much regional dialect to worry about.) In any case, there are very few words too offensive to appear harmlessly as syllables in pronunciation guides, and "ass" isn't one of them, as far as I'm concerned. If your publisher is worried about it, though, you could always use ASK-ee instead. Hmmm -- that may be closer in any case. There isn't much of a break between the S and K sounds... +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2he] Preferred usage Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 From: Anne Waddingham, Waddingham@compuserve.com Last Sunday I built a wigwam from 3 beanpoles and a couple of sheets for my 3-year-old. After reading Edline's strand on the terminology, the most difficult part of the operation was explaining who used to live in them - aboriginals? native Americans? First nation people? I know he didn't care a fig but life for Mummy has certainly got more complicated. What games do kids play these days now 'cowboys and indians' is no longer PC? (I ask this in light-hearted vein!) +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2hj] Ethnic groups Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 From: B. J. Sutton, jastext@mnet.fr Harriet Stewart-Jones wrote: > An author recently insisted that the terms Negro (cap N) and > Caucasian (cap C) should be retained in his book on Surgery > because they clearly defined the ethnic groups he was referring > to. I would normally change to 'black populations' and 'white > populations' or some such but he said that this was too vague. > ... What do you do when an author wants to use 'Negro' in this > context? and then Christine Shuttleworth wrote (EDline 4.16): > I passed Harriet's comments to a colleague, who comments: > > "as far as I know the popular term 'Caucasian' has no validity > whatever, and no particular meaning, any more than Aryan does, > or indeed Negro which in US South was used to include persons > with minute fraction of African blood. > > "Am pretty certain article I read recently in Scientific > American referred to African or European origin". The three racial classifications for the human species (based on physical characteristics such as skull shape) were taught to me as Negroid, Caucasian or Caucasoid, and Mongoloid. I don't know if this has been refined or altered more recently, but these terms still exist in most of my texts. I should add that while the term "mongoloid" is often used to designate people born with Down's Syndrome, the proper term for this is "mongolism". Has anyone else heard these classifications, and are they still in use in anthropology and related sciences? +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2hk] Multipliers in column headings Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 From: Diana Boatman, Boatmans@compuserve.com Yateendra Joshi suggested the alternative styles: > Production (x 1000 tonnes) or > Production (in thousands of tonnes) or > Production (in thousand tonnes) or > Production (tonnes), '000 or > ? and, for partly for conciseness, Jane Kerr recommended: > Production (t, 000s) > > or > > Production (t x 1000) If readers are likely to understand metric tonnes, will they not also understand the SI-approved prefixes? Apart from being even shorter, "Production (kilotonnes)" or "Production (kt)" has the additional advantages of being unambiguous and elegant. Degrees Celsius are the only SI units which cannot take prefixes like this. I've seen devices such as '000 used in books on Accountancy and suchlike, but it's an ugly (and rather meaningless) way of indicating the multiplier. I'd be interested to know what other Edliners recommend for large numbers outside the scientific field. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2hl] Freelance group in South Africa Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 From: Anon. Martyn Yeo asked: > Does anyone know of an equivalent organisation to the SFEP in > South Africa or of any resources that would be useful to a > freelance starting up there? For editors' organizations in South Africa, try Matthew Seal, mse@argus.co.za, in Johannesburg. --------------------- Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 From: Sue Lightfoot, slightfoot@macace.co.uk There is an Association of Southern African Indexers and Bibliographers. Any use? I don't have the address, but you could try the Society of Indexers at admin@socind.demon.co.uk. ---[4] Business matters --------------------------------------- ** [4cl] Position available: Medical Editor, Toronto, Ontario Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 From: Sharon Nancekivell, snance@sickkids.on.ca Editorial Services, the medical editing department of The Hospital for Sick Children, has an immediate opening for an experienced Medical Editor. If you are the successful candidate, you will edit academic medical and scientific manuscripts for appropriate content, use of language, and style. Working in partnership with the Director, you will also teach medical and scientific writing skills and perform some administrative duties. You have an English or science degree; superior English language skills; excellent technical and non-technical writing skills; thorough knowledge of medical terminology, and major clinical and scientific research journals; familiarity with Macintosh computers, and word processing and database programs; and excellent interpersonal skills. A minimum of two years' experience in academic medical or scientific editing and teaching writing, and excellent online editing skills are essential. Please apply in writing by May 7, 1999, to Ann Sapingas Human Resources The Hospital for Sick Children 555 University Avenue Toronto ON M5G 1X8 Canada Fax: 416 813-5671 E-mail: hr.recruiter@sickkids.on.ca ---[6] Just for fun ------------------------------------------- "Education, education and education", no. 12 Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure. He invented cigarettes and started smoking. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100ft clipper. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ "How to write good", no. 11 Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." ---[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: iain.brown@ucl.ac.uk or 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. Quoting from previous messages: quote as much as you need to make the context of your reply clear, but no more. The sections of EDline are as follows: [2] Q & A -- questions and answers [3] FYI -- items of general interest [4] Business matters -- items of a business nature [5] Bookmarks -- useful Web pages [6] Just for fun -- time for letting hair down! [7] Miscellaneous -- odds and sods * Administration All messages of a subscription or administrative nature should be directed to Iain Brown, at: iain.brown@ucl.ac.uk with "EDline ADMIN" in the subject line. * To subscribe to Grapevine To subscribe to Grapevine, the discussion list concerned with matters computing, please e-mail Electric Editors at: ElectricEds@bigfoot.com with [Subscribe Grapevine] in the subject line. * To subscribe to LANGline To subscribe to LANGline, which discusses modern languages, translation and editing in non-English languages, please e-mail Electric Editors at: ElectricEds@bigfoot.com with [Subscribe LANGline] in the subject line. * Homepage and back issues: Visit the Electric Editors at: < http://www.ikingston.demon.co.uk/ee/ > Back issues of all three mailing lists are available on the Mailing Lists archive page. --------- ** The views expressed in this mailing list are strictly those of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the moderators or of the Electric Editors. ** Articles (c) 1999, by individual contributors Design (c) 1996, 1997, Iain Brown Compilation (c) 1999, The Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= END OF EDline 4.17 Next issue: 9 May 1999 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=