Category Archives: grammar

Money, Money, Money. Money . . . Money

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In this blog post title, I’m singing the song lyric of “For the Love of Money” by the O’Jays (and yes, I know my age is showing). I came across something in proofreading at work today that I thought I should cover. The phrase was “$1 million dollars.” My thought was that since the dollar sign is there and means “dollars,” the word “dollars” is superfluous. So I decided to research the Gregg Reference Manual rules on money.

The first choice with money is to use the dollar sign and numbers.

  • $7.50

You can spell the money reference out when it is isolated and you don’t want to emphasize it.

  • half a million dollars

Indefinite amounts of money should be spelled out.

  • a few thousand dollars

When your sentence contains a whole dollar amount, you do not need to add a period and two zeros UNLESS it is in the same context as an amount with dollars and cents or you need to give special emphasis to an exact amount.

  • INCORRECT: The bread sold for $3, but the butter was $4.25.
  • CORRECT: The bread sold for $3.00, but the butter was $4.25.
  • I will give you $40.00 for dinner and not a penny more.

If you have numbers in a column, all of the numbers should have the decimal and two zeros so the numbers line up and look consistent.

When you have very large amounts of money, it is appropriate to use numbers and words, but use EITHER the dollar sign OR the word “dollars,” not both.

  • $3 million
  • 3 million dollars

Fractional amounts of money should either be spelled out or all numbers, but not an actual fraction.

  • INCORRECT: 1/2 of a million dollars
  • CORRECT: half of a million dollars
  • CORRECT: $500,000

For amounts of money under a dollar, normally use figures and the word “cents.”

  • She paid 49 cents for that shake.

However, do not use the dollar sign and decimal point with cents except when related amounts of money require the dollar sign

  • Today I spent $3.50 for pens, $14.00 for paper, and $.35 for sticky notes.
  • I found a deal on sticky notes and paid only 35 cents per pack.

Where you use the dollar sign or cents sign for a range of numbers, use the symbol with each amount.

  • INCORRECT: My budget for a car was $15,000 to 20,000.
  • CORRECT: My budget for a car was $15,000 to $20,000.

Also, to be clear, if you are using words for the dollar amount, use it after each number.

  • INCORRECT: The income was expected to be between $3 and $5 million. This could be read to be between three dollars and five million dollars and that’s quite a spread.
  • CORRECT: The income was expected to be between $3 million and $5 million.

However, where you are spelling out the numbers, you can add the dollar amount after the last number.

  • The income was expected to be between three and five million dollars.

In legal documents such as contracts and agreements where it needs to be crystal clear, you should spell out the dollar amount and then put the numbers in parentheses right after.

  • The sales price is Three Hundred Forty-five Thousand Dollars ($345,000.00).
  • NOTE: The word “and” does not appear between “Hundred” and “Forty-five.” Even though you may verbally say it that way, it is correct to leave it out, although you can add it if you choose.

When you are describing foreign money, it usually is shown with an abbreviation or a currency symbol at the front.

  • US$45,000
  • Can$45,000
  • €45,000
  • ¥45,000

Well that didn’t increase my coffers any, but now we all know more about writing about money. Please add a comment below or email [email protected] with your burning questions and we can all learn a little something perhaps we didn’t know.

 

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An Abbreviation–Is It An Initialism Or An Acronym?

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An abbreviation is a group of letters acting as a shortened form of a phrase such as CD, ATM, FBI, etc. Abbreviations that are pronounced letter by letter–such as ATM, AC–are called initialisms while abbreviations pronounced as words–such as ZIP, PIN–are called acronyms. The Gregg Reference Manual uses a great example with CT scan and CAT scan. CT is an initialism and CAT is an acronym. For ease here, we will call them all abbreviations. When using abbreviations, do not use a word that is part of the abbreviation with the abbreviation. For instance, do not use PIN number since PIN is the abbreviation for personal identification number, so you would be saying personal identification number number.

Once you have the abbreviation correct, how you treat the abbreviation in a sentence requires that you do not think of the phrase, but think of the abbreviation as its own new word. So if you’re trying to decide whether to use a or an with your abbreviation, think about how you would pronounce it. For example with PIN, it would be a PIN, and with ATM, it would be an ATM. See Listen to Choose an Appropriate Article to help you make that decision.
Other problems come when you are using an abbreviation for a phrase, i.e., TOS for Terms of Service or SAC for Second Amended Complaint. It can be confusing to determine whether to treat the abbreviation as singular or plural in deciding how to make it plural or possessive. Once you turn your phrase into an abbreviation, think of that abbreviation as a word and no longer the complete phrase. For example,
The Terms of Service’s provisions allow the prescribed activity.
The TOS’s provisions allow the prescribed activity.
or
In a Second Amended Complaint, you must redline the differences from the original Complaint.
In an SAC, you must redline the differences from the original Complaint.
Abbreviations are useful in legal writing (particularly with page limits), but try to keep it to something that makes sense and try not to turn every phrase into an abbreviation or your reader will have to have a road map in order to be able to make sense of your writing. While we are on that topic, when I’m working in a document with lots of defined terms (including abbreviations), I usually start a chart on my second screen or on a notepad so I can make sure the same phrase is abbreviated or capitalized consistently throughout the document as it is defined. It is the small things you can easily keep track of that will make all the difference in having a document that is correct and consistent.

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Will You Favorite the Meme About Global Warming . . . or is it Climate Change?

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Although The Gregg Reference Manual is my style guide of choice (and the grammar resource for NALS’ certification exams), I do enjoy seeing what the other style guides are doing. It could very well be a forecast of changes the other style guides will be making. The new Associated Press Stylebook is in the works and I recently saw an article on the Grammarly Blog about a few interesting changes AP is making in the new edition.

  • The social media terms “favorite” used as a verb and “meme” have been added to the AP Stylebook.

To “favorite” something on the Internet is to bookmark the link of a website address so you can return to that page quickly in the future. You have favorited proofthatblog.com, right?

According to Dictionary.com, “meme” is “a cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase, etc., that is spread via the Internet and often altered in a creative or humorous way.” Examples are the posts of people lying down in public places (called “planking”) and videos of people dancing to the Harlem Shake. Digital posters, on the other hand (which I suspect are the ecards with different sayings using the same image that show up over and over again in your Facebook feed), are not memes (according to Wikipedia) at least “until it reaches approximately the same level of mass recognition as required for a person to be considered a celebrity.” I assume that The Most Interesting Man in the World who started out in the Dos Equis beer commercials and Grumpy Cat “digital posters” are now considered Internet memes.

  • The terms “global warming” and “climate change” are now interchangeable.

Although it sometimes makes things difficult trying to keep up and encouraging others to do the same, I love that most style guides stay current with language trends. The English language is ever-changing and it is important that we keep up with the changes. As things continue to change and younger people become our readers, it is incumbent upon us to “speak” through writing in a language that they understand (within reason of course!).

Are there things you think should be changed? Leave a comment with your predictions for future style guide updates below.

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Email Is Correspondence Too!

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16117895_sEmail is not just a method of communicating with others over the computer. It is a reflection of you and your firm when you are using your company equipment to send emails to others—whether regarding work subjects or not. Email is just the same as sending a letter or any other type of communication. You need to make sure your message is clear and error free.

Keep these things in mind:

  • Never EVER use text-speak in business emails. Take the time to spell words out. People who don’t text much or who insist on grammatically correct texts will have trouble reading the email when it contains those kinds of abbreviations. Take the time to turn “R U ready for me to snd the ltr?” to “Are you ready for me to send the letter?”
  • Email was once considered a very informal way of communicating. Things are very different now. Think about how many times a day you use email to communicate with attorneys in your own office, clients, opposing counsel, and other professionals. Email has really become a primary business correspondence and, thus, is formal communication. Treat it that way.
  • When you are using email to forward some kind of document, you need to make sure both the email and the attachment are proofread and are an accurate reflection of you and your firm and the quality of your work. I personally love that our Outlook Office Professional Plus 2013 is picking up when it looks like you intended to attach something but haven’t attached it before you hit send. But even if you don’t have that version of Outlook, before hitting send, check your email for accuracy—that it is going to the correct person (don’t trust your email program’s autofill) and that your attachment is correct AND attached.
  • When you are sending an email—particularly one going outside the firm—don’t trust the “send” spellcheck. You know which one I mean. You press send, it tells you words it thinks are spelled wrong, fixes them the way you tell it to, and sends it off into cyberspace. Were words that were spelled correctly still the wrong word? It is entirely possible. If you type “The client doe snot have any comment to your revisions,” it is all spelled correctly, but is it what you really meant? Take the time to read your emails and actually proof the email before you press send.
  • When you are using your firm’s email mail system and the email address reflects the firm/company name, you are the company. To the reader of the email, you are representing your firm.
  • When you are using your firm’s equipment or software to send email, the mail belongs to the firm. They have the right to set up templates or give direction for how they want emails to look and what they want them to contain. Find out if your firm has those standards set out somewhere.
  • Each email outside the firm should have a signature block just like every letter would. And just like every business correspondence, if you are not a lawyer, make sure your signature block contains your title. Otherwise, the reader may automatically assume you are a lawyer and are giving them legal advice.
  • Be careful when responding to email and choosing “reply all.” Does everyone listed on the email really need the information? In today’s law firms, people can easily get over 200 emails a day, so any that they don’t have to have will put one less email in their box. However, don’t assume people don’t need to be included. If the subject has changed or someone has indicated they can be dropped from the email chain, that is one thing, but be careful making the assumption that people don’t want to be included. When in doubt, include everyone in the original group.
  • Make sure the subject line of your email is accurate. Even if you are responding to an email chain, if the subject has changed, change the subject line. It not only makes it easier for the reader to sort information they really need to deal with at any particular time, but it makes it easier to search later.
  • You never know who will read your email. Forwarding emails is far too easy to rely on the idea that only the addressee will ever read your email. Will it end up as a trial exhibit? Will your addressee forward it to someone you may not even know? Will it end up in your personnel file? Will the addressee post your email on the Internet for anyone to see? In the end, always be professional, always be accurate, and always be nice. The last thing you should think before you hit send is “Do I want your mom to read this?”

Who knew email was so complicated? It really isn’t complicated, it is just good common sense. And it is good business sense to make sure your email represents you and your firm in the best way possible.

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PS: I Don’t Need to Use a Postscript

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I got this question from a reader:

My boss used a lot–and I mean a lot–of postscript messages in his letters. They range from one paragraph to 4 or 5. These paragraphs are lengthy. What are your thoughts on the use of postscript in a business / legal correspondence?

My initial thought is that in today’s electronic world, postscripts (or a PS at the end of a letter) are completely unnecessary because if it is an important part of a letter, it should be included in the body of the letter. I understand the need for a postscript in a handwritten multi-page letter where you might have forgotten something, so that you could add it at the end without redoing the entire letter, but not in a computer generated business letter. But what do the experts say?

The Gregg Reference Manual says that effective use of a postscript will emphasize an idea that was deliberately left out of the body of the letter and will bring special attention to it. On the other hand, your reader may feel that your letter is poorly organized. Think about whether that is a chance you want to take.

To me, I visualize the use of postscripts as a list on a piece of paper and then one Post-it note with an addition to the list, and then another Post-it note, and another until the list is obliterated by Post-it notes with extra information.

If you’re going to use a “PS” for a particular purpose, leave a blank line between the copy notation and the PS and include a colon and one or two spaces after the “PS.” By the way, it is not “P.S.” (with periods) anymore since “postscript” is now spelled as one word.

Do you have a nagging question that you would like answered? Leave it in the comments below or send an email to [email protected] and I will do my best to answer your question.

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Grammar Giggle – First Annuel

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It makes me proud when my kids or grandkids send me Grammar Giggles! This one came from my daughter from a wrestling tournament she attended for my grandson. I also thought it appropriate since I get to watch my grandson wrestle in another tournament tomorrow! I’ll have to be on the lookout for other Grammar Giggle material!

First Annuel

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Here a Footnote, There an Endnote, Everywhere a Textnote

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There are three basic kinds of notes used in writing. First, the footnote, which appears at the bottom of the same page as the referring number. Second, the endnote, which appears at the end of the document with all other references in the document. And third, the textnote, which appears in the text surrounded by parenthesis.

While researching for this topic, I found it interesting that there is not a lot of material out there on footnotes in legal documents. I assume this is because the use of footnotes is discouraged and because Bryan Garner disapproves. The argument against footnotes (for other than citations to cases) is a good one. Readers will assume that the information they need is contained in the main body of the document and that a footnote is ancillary or extraneous material adding “fluff,” if you will, to the main thought. Also, there is a very real possibility that it is confusing and potentially irritating to your reader to keep bobbing their head up and down as they’re reading to go from the heart of the document to the bottom of the page. Not to mention it breaks the train of thought associated with reading your brilliant work.

Truth is, however, attorneys use footnotes, so there should be a standard way of preparing them. Unfortunately, there is not. The Gregg Reference Manual uses a completely different format than the standard Microsoft Word default. I, for one, will continue to use the Microsoft Word default. Not only is it one less thing to remember to change, but if using footnotes is part of an attempt to save space in a document subject to page limitations, using the default will help.

The Microsoft Word default automatically numbers the footnotes, adds the separator line, puts no space between the separator line and the first footnote, aligns the superscript footnote reference number with the left margin, adds no space between the superscript number and the text of the footnote, adds no space between footnotes, and automatically makes the font smaller than the regular font. 

One caveat here is that some courts require the footnote to be in the same size font as the regular text. In that case, using footnotes does not save any space–particularly when the court-required font size is 14.

In your main text, there should be no space before your superscript footnote reference number and the word immediately preceding. However, if your footnote reference comes at the end of a sentence, the superscript footnote reference number should come immediately after the terminal punctuation with no space between the punctuation and the superscript number.

You should make an effort to keep your entire footnote on the same page as the reference. If your reader is already annoyed at being “interrupted” by being forced to the bottom of the page in the middle of a paragraph, they will be even more annoyed if they have to go to the next page and back again.

There is little more annoying than reading a document, getting to a footnote, and going to the bottom of the page only to see “Id.,” particularly when you see three or four of them in the next few footnotes. Just add that behind the text and be done with it. Your reader will thank you.

I know that footnotes, endnotes, and textnotes have a place in legal writing. Just use them sparingly and with good cause unless your intent really is to irritate your reader.

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Thats [sic]

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As I’ve mentioned before, when you are quoting material, it has to be an exact quotation. So what happens when the author of that exact quotation has made an error? That’s where our Latin friend sic comes in. The word sic means “thus” or “in such a manner.” It means that the writer knows that the quoted material is wrong, but it is the original author’s mistake, not the current writer’s mistake. Just be careful about using sic where the word or phrase you think is wrong may just be an archaic spelling or usage–but not necessarily grammatically incorrect.SIC

According to Bryan A. Garner in A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage ((2nd edition). Oxford University Press US, 2001), in state-court opinions before 1944, sic appeared 1,239 times in the Westlaw database; in those from 1945 to 1990, it appeared 69,168 times. I can only imagine that its usage has increased more dramatically still in the last 25 years.

Using sic should not be thrown around carelessly or to attempt to show an air of superiority. Such usage is called “benighted use” and is thought to have accounted for a large part of the increase in the use of sic.

As for formatting, modern American usage and The Gregg Reference Manual have the word sic in italics and surrounded by brackets–[sic]. Some authorities say that it is now such common usage that it is not formatted in italics. The Bluebook shows sic not italicized but enclosed in brackets–[sic]. Since The Bluebook is the standard for legal citation, it would appear that when you use it in legal documents, sic does not need to be italicized. The Bluebook also says that “[sic]” should follow “significant mistakes” in original language, so put “[sic]” right after the word with the issue and not at the end of the sentence or passage. The reader needs to know that you know it is an error at the point it is an error and not lines or words later.

Use [sic] where necessary and when necessary. It does have an important use and is a useful tool in our work, just do not overuse it to prove you’re smarter than anyone else. Nobody likes a showoff!

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And The Oxford Dictionaries 2014 Word of the Year Is . . .

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dictionaryI like to check out the new words added to dictionaries each year. So now (drumroll please) the 2014 Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year . . . vape. Vape is an abbreviation of vapour or vaporize and is defined as “to inhale and exhale the vapour produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.” So because it is not “smoking” because it is just vapor, it is “vaping.” Interesting. What were some of the entries on the shortlist you might ask?

  • bae – “used as a term of endearment for one’s romantic partner.” I have to say were it not for Pharrell Williams, I never would have known this word existed or been able to guess at its meaning. Now that it is in the dictionary, that problem is solved.
  • budtender – “a person whose job is to serve customers in a cannabis dispensary or shop.” My how times have changed. Way back when I think they called them a “dealer.” It must be the new legislation that has made it a more noble profession. Another interesting tidbit is that according to the Online Slang Dictionary, in 2012 the term “potrepreneur” was added to mean someone whose business involved marijuana. So I guess the potrepreneur is the person who OWNS the plant and the budtender is the one who SELLS it.
  • contactless – “relating to or involving technologies that allow a smart card, mobile phone, etc. to contact wirelessly to an electronic reader, typically in order to make a payment.” Sounds suspiciously like Apple Pay or the Mobil Speedpass to me. A Google search for the Mobil Speedpass has as the first entry “Speedpass – Contactless Payment at the Gas Pump.” I love it when I’m right.
  • indyref – “an abbreviation of ‘independence referendum’, in reference to the referendum on Scottish independence, held in Scotland on 18 September 2014, in which voters were asked to answer yes or no to the question ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’” By the way, the answer was “no.”
  • normcore – “a trend in which ordinary, unfashionable clothing is worn as a deliberate fashion statement.” I can’t wait for that fashion show.
  • slacktivism – “informal actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, e.g. signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social media website; a blend of slacker and activism.” I kind of like this one. We could come up with all sorts of combinations with slacker. How about bingeslacking meaning to do absolutely nothing for hours on end when you could be binge-watching or working, slackerselfie meaning pictures you take of yourself in the middle of the day while still in your pajamas, twerkslacker meaning someone who tries to twerk but is just too much of a slacker to make it to the “low, squatting stance.” Thanks to the Oxford Dictionaries 2013 Word of the Year (and the shortlist) for that little grouping.

So there are your new words for 2014. Learn them, use them, and make them yours.

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Periods–More Than a Dot

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One would think periods are simple. Their function is to end a sentence. However, there are other uses for the period that we need to be aware of in order to use it correctly.

  • Use a period after a number in an outline or a list unless the number is in parentheses, i.e., (1). In an outline, you should tab after the period to give a visual break. Using Word’s auto numbering feature makes this step easier as it will automatically tab after the period.
  • When you have separate lines in a list that are independent clauses, dependent clauses, or long phrases, you should use periods. you should also use periods after short phrases that complete the statement that introduces the list:
    • Please provide your drafts by Friday for the:
      • Motion to Dismiss.
      • Motion to Exceed Page Limits.
      • Proposed Order.
  • Where items are listed in a sentence, use commas or semicolons to separate them:
    • Please provide your drafts by Friday for the (1) Motion to Dismiss, (2) Motion to Exceed Page Limits, and (3) Proposed Order.
  • You don’t need periods for short phrases if the introductory statement is already grammatically correct or if the list is more of an inventory or shopping list:
    • The training topics for the new secretary should include the following:
      • E-filing
      • Proofreading
      • Ethics
    • When you next go to Costco, please get:
      • Gum
      • Keurig coffee
      • Paper napkins
  • Note that in these lists, a colon is used to introduce the list, the first word of each item on the list is capitalized, and you can use numbers to begin the listed items (see my post about starting sentences with numbers here).
  • In headings, use a period after a run-in heading where the paragraph continues immediately following the heading. Do not use a period if the heading is freestanding. You can use appropriate punctuation such as an exclamation point or question mark if necessary in a freestanding heading.
    • Proper jurisdiction. It is agreed that Arizona is the proper jurisdiction for this matter.
    • Proper Jurisdiction

It is agreed that Arizona is the proper jurisdiction for this matter.

  • Don’t use a period after letters used to replace the name of a person or thing unless it ends a sentence.
    • Mr. X is the mystery brand spokesperson for the car I like.
  • However, do use a period if the single letter is used as the initial for a last name.
    • Mr. B. (for Mr. Bailey) was my favorite teacher.
  • Don’t use a period after a contraction like won’t or cont’d unless it ends a sentence.
  • Don’t use a period after ordinal numbers (2d, 3d).
  • Don’t use a period after roman numerals except in an outline (Volume III, page 29).

So periods aren’t quite as easy as they seem. Send your grammar and proofreading issues to [email protected] so we can answer them in a future blog post.

 

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