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In 2011 Merriam-Webster added more than 150 new words to the dictionary, including social media and bromance. And the Oxford English Dictionary added such phrases as light-bulb moment and environmentally unfriendly.
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Most readers know that superscript figures (usually numbers or asterisks) in text tell the reader to refer to a footnote or an endnote for a comment or a source reference. So informative writers of white papers and such will want to use superscript characters here and there to build up their credibility.
Recall from last week that who is used when you need a subject, and whom when you need an objective pronoun. But in addition to who, there are other subjective pronouns. Select who when the individual or the individuality of the group is meant, and that when a class, species, or type is meant.
These pronouns are both interrogative pronouns (used in asking questions) and relative pronouns (used to refer to a noun in the main clause).
Happy New Year!
The bandage was wound around the wound. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. After a number of injections, my jaw got number. Any wonder why English is so hard to learn? How well will you do on this week's vocabulary test?
When a compound adjective consists of a noun plus an adjective, hyphenate this combination whether it appears before or after the noun.
No aspect of style causes greater difficulty than compound adjectives. When a compound adjective is shown hyphenated in the dictionary, you can assume only that the expression is hyphenated when it occurs directly before a noun. When the same combination of words falls elsewhere in the sentence, the use or omission of hyphens depends on how the words are used.
From time to time, even the most science-averse writers must cover a scientific term in writing. For example, is it Fahrenheit or fahrenheit? Is it Celsius and Centigrade, or celsius and centigrade? While there are several authoritative guides that should be found on the shelves of all science writers (The AIP Style Manual, Physical Review Letters, Astrophysical Journal, and The ACS Style Guide for chemists), the following are some general guidelines for nontechnical editors.
What writer does not want to grab the attention of his or her readers? Whether your lot in life is writing directions for cashing in winning lottery tickets or box labels for over-the-counter sleeping pills, you need to compel your readers to absorb all of the text (even the part about "may cause drowsiness"). Consider using, but not overusing, some of today's tips in your very next assignment.