=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EDline Vol. 6, no. 30 Editorial mailing list (digest version) Published by the Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contents: Q & A [2ps] The plural of 'Abyss' [2pt] Migrancy [2pu] What is a 'proofing sheet'? FYI [3gn] Information for research editors [3go] Publishing studies forum [3gp] EDline Bookmarks subject index [6] Just for fun [8] Administration =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ---[2] Q & A --------------------------------------------------- ** [2ps] The plural of 'Abyss' Date: Tues, 2 Oct 2001 From: Neville Hankins, nevhankins@compuserve.com What is the plural of 'abyss'? ---------------------- Date: Tues, 2 Oct 2001 From: David Ibbetson, isserlis@home.com I'd use "abysses", or am I missing something? --------------------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 From: Simon Cauchi, cauchi@wave.co.nz Abysses. Here are the relevant OED quotations: 1794 Sullivan View of Nat. I. 30 How striking the profundity of the abysses! the frightful elevation of the rocks! 1796 Burke Reg. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 80 Some of them seemed plunged in unfathomable abysses of disgrace. 1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyr. Poems 101 Into the dismal abysses Where outworn centuries lie. --------------------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 From: Michael Hall, babash@btinternet.com In the strictest sense "The Abyss" has no plural, being the one of its kind (ie the primal chaos). "Abysses" does seem to be the accepted plural, but it is so ugly a word (and reads like abbesses) that I would advise an author to find a less awkward word. "Depths" or "Deeps" are both good English. --------------------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 From: Simon Cauchi, cauchi@wave.co.nz Neville Hankins's original question concerned word formation, not word choice. I don't agree that "abysses" is ugly or that it reads like "abbesses". The word is no uglier than (say) "kisses" or "caresses". Nor is the countable sense (a profound or bottomless gulf) any less legitimate than the uncountable sense (the unique primal chaos). The latter is "stricter" only in the sense of being narrower, not more correct. Here are some more OED quotations, showing that the word has been used in the plural by Johnson, Shelley, De Quincey, Newman, Meredith, and other writers eminent in such fields as geology, theology, biography, history, and the theatre: 1626 T. H[awkins] Caussin's Holy Crt. 176 It is impossible to deceyue God, whose eye..transpasseth through the abysses. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 137 37 The unexplored abysses of truth. 1799 Hist. in New Ann. Reg. 299/1 Rallying such of his troops as had been able to free these abysses. 1799 Kirwan Geol. Ess. 479 The unfathomable abysses of the ocean. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 42 While from their loud abysses howling throng The genii of the storm, urging the rage Of whirlwind. 1822 De Quincey Confess. Wks. V. 69 And the most frightful abysses, up to the very last menace of engulfment. 1832 Wilson ibid. XXXI. 866 They look down into the cataracted abysses. 1839 Bailey Festus ix. (1854) 106 The hemisphered abysses here. 1847 F. A. Kemble Rec. Later Life (1882) III. 289, I float comfortably enough over infinite abysses of inconclusion. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 120/2 Hundreds of dogs..are annually committed to the abysses of these foulsome waters. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) III. vi. ii. 389 The philosopher..went fathoming on..in the very abysses of human thought. 1860 W. Webb in Med. Times 4 Feb. 118/2 The alluvial deposits in crateral abysses. 1866 Alger Solit. Nat. & Man iv. 251 He sees man suspended between the two abysses of infinity and nothingness. 1870 J. H. Newman Gram. Assent ii. viii. 304 Montaigne..could thus afford to play with life, and the abysses into which it leads us. 1876 Meredith Beauch. Career xv, The poor are everlastingly, unrelievedly, in the abysses of the great sea. 1879 A. Geikie Geol. Sk. xiii. (1882) 323 Mud gathers on the floor of these abysses [of the ocean]..so slowly that the very star-dust which falls from outer space forms an appreciable part of it. 1881 Masson De Quincey 63 Unshored astronomical abysses. 1894 A. Austin in Blackw. Mag. Sept. 315/1, I could..still see the sweeping, swirling coils of strandless water running in and out of the black honeycombed abysses. 1939 S. de Madariaga Columbus xii. 136 In this land [sc. Castille]..the mental-moral soil was broken..by forbidding abysses which emanated all kinds of poisonous gases and murderous flames. (If I used sig tags, which I don't, I'd appropriate Fanny Kemble's delicious remark, "I float comfortably enough over infinite abysses of inconclusion", which strikes me as particularly suitable for such lists as EDline and Copyediting-l.) --------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 From: Eddie Kent, edlineek@aol.com Simon Cauchi writes: > 1894 A. Austin in Blackw. Mag. Sept. 315/1, I could..still see > the sweeping, swirling coils of strandless water running in and > out of the black honeycombed abysses. There's words! (Is he the one they made poet laureate?) +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2pt] Migrancy Date: Thurs, 4 Oct 2001 From: John Morris, johnjeff@meadowdance.org I have an author who uses the word "migrancy" in the following sentence: Indeed the study operated within the "heterosexual matrix" that has defined much work on migrancy in South Africa. None of my dictionaries list migrancy as a word, but I have not found the correct word. "Migrants" would not work because that would restrict it too closely to the people who migrate and not the entire system of "migrancy:" the people, the structures, the reasons for migrating, etc. "Migration" seems to suggest too much cohesion and, I think, is primarily applied to animals, not people. I suppose I could suggest "the migrant system," but I was hoping for something more concise. Can anyone suggest the correct term? ----------------------- Date: Thurs, 4 Oct 2001 From: David Ibbetson, isserlis@home.com I'd use "migration". It doesn't particularly suggest animals to me. ----------------------- Date: Thurs, 4 Oct 2001 From: Andrea Bernstein, andrea@bernsteins.org Migrancy is a commonly used term, certainly in the South African context. Have a look at < http://www.uct.ac.za/depts/cml/dll/dllp95b.htm > If you search on Google there are 1750 instances of the word "migrancy". ----------------------- Date: Thurs, 4 Oct 2001 From: John Morris, johnjeff@meadowdance.org Thanks Andrea for this point. I thought I had done such search, but I must have forgotten to. Interestingly, many of the pages I pulled up now (on Altavista) did not actually mention "migrancy." From the search, I was beginning to think that it might be a term local to South Africa, but then I found some use in other parts of the world. I guess I will leave it as is, since my auther is from SA and is writing for a South African journal. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [2pu] What is a 'proofing sheet'? Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 From: oxigen@netspace.net.au I'm editing an online web writing course, linked to the publishing standards of a university hosting the course for its academic and administrative staff. The publishing standards include a section titled 'proofing sheet', covering issues on university-specific matters like abbreviations/acronyms, citing academic programs/ courses/campuses/buildings etc., capitalisation, headings, dates, names and titles, spelling conventions and so on. Now I would have thought such guidelines more correctly constitute a 'house style guide'. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? --------------------- Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 From: Clare Tame, claretame@tin.it I suggest calling it, 'The Elements of Style' after the parvum opus of Strunk & White? --[3] FYI ------------------------------------------------------ ** [3gn] Information for research editors Date: Fri, 15 June 2001 From: Daniell Morrisey, danny@recruitmedia.co.uk Readers of EDline may be interested in a newly published special report from Recruit Media. The report provides a survey into the world of the corporate finance information and research professions - revealing the impact technology, legislation and merger activity is having on the skills, salaries and roles of those working in the City. In the report, you'll find: * how much research editors earn? - a comprehensive analysis of our recent salary survey * what skills and experience do they need? - job specifications and guest columnists * the impact of tighter regulation and compliance The report is available free of charge; please email < editorial@recruitmedia.co.uk > either requesting an emailed PDF version, or with your address details if you would prefer a hard copy. We hope you'll find the report not only an enjoyable read, but informative and relevant. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [3go] Publishing studies forum Date: Thurs, 13 Sept 2001 From: Amadio Arboleda, arboleda@twics.com [Cross-posted from SHARP-L] I received the following information from the Japan Society for Publishing Studies about the 10th International Forum on Publishing Studies in Seoul in October. The JSPS initiated the first international forum on publishing studies over ten years ago. The forum has been held in various countries in Asia, including China, Japan, and Korea. This may be of interest. 10th International Forum on Publishing Studies Three-day forum sponsored by the Korean Publishing Science Society Dates: October 25 to 27, 2001 Place: International Conference Hall, Academy House Seoul, Republic of Korea Theme (and sub-themes) Changes in the 21st Century International Publishing Environment and Measures to Deal with Them - Studies and education related to publishing - Protection of copyright and publication - Translation publishing and publication exchange Purpose To discuss by area how each nation takes its publishing course confronting the 21st century and to contribute to the development of publishing culture between Korea and the international community by searching for substantial measures to deal with international publishing exchange. Languages of forum Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English (simultaneous interpretation provided) For more information, contact: Secretariat, Korean Publishing Science Society 21-1 Kusu-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea Tel.: +82-02-712-9169 E-mail: kkt21@hite.net/kkt21@scmyung.ac.kr +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ** [3gp] EDline Bookmarks subject index Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 From: Iain Brown, iain.brown@ucl.ac.uk Sue Lightfoot (slightfoot@macace.co.uk) has once again provided the EDline Bookmark index, updated to include all of Volume 5. The index is available at: < http://www.electriceditors.net/edline/bookmark.htm > ---[6] Just for fun -------------------------------------------- Piffling trifles, no. 15 There is a seven-letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters. This word is "therein," and the words within it are: the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein. ---[8] Administration ------------------------------------------ EDline is a discussion list about editorial and business matters for members of the publishing community. It focuses on issues of interest to professional editors, proofreaders, typesetters, writers and those in associated jobs. To post to the mailing list via Topica, use the following address: EDline@topica.com For digest subscribers, please post your EDline messages to: bywater@ntlworld.com * Accented characters: When writing accented characters, please adopt the following convention to show the accent after the character: / acute \ grave ^ circumflex ~ tilde " umlaut/diaeresis , cedilla % o slash aa a ring sz German double s | long s _ line above letter * Homepage and back issues: Visit the Electric Editors at: < http://www.electriceditors.net/ > Archives of the EDline automated discussions can be found at: < http://www.topica.com/lists/EDline > All messages contributed to EDline, whether automated or digest versions, are archived on the Electric Editors' Website. These archives can be found at: < http://www.electriceditors.net/EDline/ > --------- ** 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) 2001, by individual contributors Design (c) 1996, 1997, 2000 Iain Brown Compilation (c) 2001, Iain Brown / The Electric Editors =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= END OF EDline 6.30 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=