=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 4, no. 29 (1 August 1999) Editorial mailing list Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: Q & A---previous queries [2ia] Who(m) cares? [2ic] Roman numerals [2if] Some terminology [2ih] Vector products Q & A---new queries [2ij] Spelling of internet-related words [2ik] Gender: general statement FYI [3ev] Listbot vacancies list Business matters---new posting [4cr] Looking for freelance work [6] Just for fun [7] Miscellaneous A complex march [8] Administration =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[2] Q & A --------------------------------------------------- ** [2ia] Who(m) cares? Date: Fri, 30 July 1999 From: Norman Grossblatt, NGrossbl@nas.edu Jane Kerr wrote: > The original question was about whether the technically > incorrect "Who did you meet there?" has gained the ascendant > over the correct version using "whom". The former is certainly > more widespread in spoken and, I suspect, written forms. To > what extent do copy-editors insist on the "correct" version? Always. And no author (in more than 40 years) has questioned my insistence. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2ic] Roman numerals Date: Fri 30 July 1999 From: Ralph Hancock The Romans themselves wrote their numerals in a fairly simple way, and most of the short forms such as XL for XXXX and even, I think, IV for IIII are medieval inventions. Dates on buildings tend to be in a longer and more ceremonious form, so you would expect MDCCCCVII rather than MCMVII here, though you would probably see the latter on the title page of a book. ---------------------- Date: Fri 30 July 1999 From: David Ibbetson, ibbetson@idirect.com Iain Brown asks about four identical Roman numerals in sequence e.g. IIII for 4 or CCCC for 400. This was the older Roman form before the later Romans introduced the subtracting convention: e.g. IV and CD. I don't know dates. I have seen it claimed that the use of IIII on watches is for aesthetic reasons. It may be so. ----------------------- Date: Fri, 30 July 1999 From: Judyth Mermelstein, espresso@e-scape.net The Romans themselves often used four characters in a row, as in "IIII" for "4" in inscriptions. I think "IV" was a later and more sophisticated development, possibly because it was easier on the stonecarvers. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2if] Some terminology Date: Fri, 30 July 1999 From: Judyth Mermelstein, espresso@e-scape.net Sarah Barrett wrote: > I thought the phrase was 'burr walnut'; but I find from the > SOED that it is 'bur walnut', meaning walnut wood with knots > in it. I've seen the word applied to other woods in a local > craft shop. Actually, there is a big difference between a "burr" (rough spot), a "knot" which occurs if a board includes the spot where a branch was attached to the trunk of the tree (usually to be avoided in woodworking with any finesse), and a "burl" which is considerably rarer and rather beautiful, where the grain of the wood swirls around rather than running in straight lines or rings. Most commonly, one sees burled oak or walnut, but it can happen in other hardwoods. Burled wood is most commonly used on small decorative pieces of furniture or on accessories, often in the form of a thin veneer over a cheaper plain wood. ------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 August 1999 From: Josephine Bacon, bacon@langservice.com If the SOED has bur walnut then it is wrong! I have consulted Cassells Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary and books on antiques and ALL use the term burl for a knot in wood. I knew the term already and when describing a piece of furniture the term is "burl walnut" and not the other way round. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2ih] Vector products Date: Mon, 2 August 1999 From: C. Douglas Meekison, dmeekison@aspects.net Eddie Kent wrote: > (By the way, it is a very long time since I heard of the 'outer > product'. I suppose this is the same as exterior product, which > I vaguely remember having to prove is equivalent to the vector > product; or was that only in three dimensions?) In response to Eddie Kent's aside, the outer product (also called the dyadic product) of two vectors is a tensor obtained by multiplying each component of the first vector by each component of the second vector individually. For three-dimensional vectors this means something with nine components, which can be written out in the form of a 3 x 3 matrix. I've never actually come across an outer product in anything I've edited, except when it was written in terms of components using subscripts (straightforward, but I won't attempt to demonstrate it in a plain-text email). ------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 August 1999 From: Tony Forbes, tonyforbes@ltkz.demon.co.uk Vector multiplication: some notes in response to Eddie Kent's recent reply. Scalar multiplication of a vector is straightforward multiplication of a vector by a scalar. This gives you another vector pointing in the same direction, but 'scaled'. For instance multiplying a vector by 2 gives a new vector twice as long. The scalar product of two vectors is the operation of 'multiplying' two vectors together in a curiously contrived way. The answer is always a scalar, or number. The most useful case is when the result is zero, for then the vectors are at right angles to one another. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2ij] Spelling of internet-related words Date: Fri, 30 July 1999 From: Karen Scott, karen.scott@virgin.net I am currently writing a book for Allison & Busby entitled 'A Writer's Guide to the Internet'. I am concerned with the spelling of keywords such as: Internet (should it be capitalised, email (hyphen or no), ezine (hyphen or no) and the same for e-commerce, e-book, etc, also should it be Web site or website or web site. Can any other members help with general rules for the future spelling of these words. I want the book to reflect the changing nature of the Internet in terms of spelling and usage of these words. Thanks for your help. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2ik] Gender: general statement Date: Wed, 4 August 1999 From: Juanita Bullough, juanita.bullough@which.net I am editing a book with a preponderance of 'him', 'he', 'his', etc., where the person in general is meant - the preponderance being such that it would be impossible to substitute more general terms for the 'offending' ones. I seem to remember coming across a general statement that could be inserted in the prelims, to the effect that although these masculine terms are used, there is no intention to offend, etc., etc. Is such a clause acceptable, and, if so, can anyone supply it? Any other guidance welcomed ... ------------------------- Date: Thur, 5 August 1999 From: Jane Kerr, bywater@zetnet.co.uk I once went through a manuscript assiduouly pluralising and altering he/him to he or she, him or her etc. then when I finally received the book's Preface (last thing to arrive, of course), it contained a statement by the author to the effect that masculine terms were intended to cover the generality of humanity, there was no intention to offend etc. Personally, I do not like such things. Lots of people plunge straight into Chapter 1 when reading a book, and so would miss any such statement in the prelims and might consequently be offended throughout. I once followed an online computer programming course which consistently referred to the would-be programmer as "he" without any offence intended, I'm sure, but I was quite unable to get the subtext that "girls can't handle complicated stuff like this" out of my head, and so ended in a quite irrational rage with the author. Legal books often contain these general statements, but then lawyers are a separate species anyway. ---[3] FYI ---------------------------------------------------- ** [3ev] Listbot vacancies list Date: Fri, 30 July 1999 From: David Penfold, penfold@eps-edge.demon.co.uk [Cross-posted from SFEPline] Daniell Morrisey of Recruitmedia has set up his own ListBot list from which he will send out details of editorial vacancies. To subscribe send a blank message to: EditorialVacancies-subscribe@listbot.com Vacancy details will then be sent to subscribers on a regular basis. Danny notes that this will not be a spam service and he will only be sending around one-to-two per week. ---[4] Business matters -------------------------------------- ** [4cr] Looking for freelance work Date: Wed, 28 July 1999 From: Patricia Waterfall, pwaterfall@abu-dhabi.ssa.slb.com I am looking for advice on finding freelance work in the publishing industry. I am currently in England but based in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, hence my need to work from home. I would be grateful if you could point me in the direction of how to go about contacting suitable organisations. ---[6] Just for fun ------------------------------------------- "Modern phrases", no. 5 DOPELER EFFECT The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly. ---[7] Miscellaneous ------------------------------------------ A complex march Date: Tue, 3 August 1999 From: Eddie Kent, eddie.kent@mcr1.poptel.org.uk Did you hear about the man who designed a complex, then added to his design, making a more complex complex. At this point he had a rather nervous breakdown and ever after suffered from what came to be called his complex complex complex. I mention this merely because I have discovered that on the last Saturday of nearly every March a group of people gather together to march to Cambridge, setting out, of course, from March. They call this the March March march. Can anybody beat three? By the way, how dare you suggest I am lying. Have a look at < http://www.bath.ac.uk/~masgks/march.html#March99 > ---[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 Jane Kerr, at: bywater@zetnet.co.uk 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. 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[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 4.29 Next issue: 15 August 1999 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=