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!
This caught my eye recently in a GUM dental products commercial. If you are going to refer to someone by their title, i.e., John Smith, DDS, you do not include “Dr.” at the front, so the reference to this dentist is incorrect. The same rule applies to the title Esq. If you say John Smith, Esq., you do not add “Attorney” to make it Attorney John Smith, Esq. Choose one or the other, but do not use both.
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.
This was found by a coworker in the rules for the Northern District of Illinois. Headings unfortunately are not something most people check. They are obviously very important and SHOULD be checked every time.
This one was sent to me by one of my biggest supporters–my son–when he saw it on the Internet. We are assuming they mean “help” because a Google search of “melp” brings up a few interesting things, but none of them fit this headline. And it is a news outlet and we all know their reputation for accuracy . . .
You know we couldn’t get through this week without some kind of Valentine fail. This is one I found on the Internet. Sometimes pretty just isn’t enough..
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.
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!
This is from a reader who has a real eagle eye for Grammar Giggles and sends them to me regularly. It is a great example of not relying on spell check (and also a reminder to change the setting in Word to not ignore words in all caps–although that wouldn’t have helped in this case).
I came across this on a webpage while I was looking for potential speakers for a conference we’re working on.
Here’s the problem (according to the Gregg Reference Manual):
perspective – means to view in correct proportion
prospective – means anticipated
So I’m thinking what they are really looking for are anticipated speakers, not speakers they will view in the correct proportion (wrong on so many levels). I have emailed them about this error so they can fix it. But using it as a teaching moment, I include it here, leaving off the identifying information. My goal is never to embarrass a person or company who has an error in a public place, but to use it to teach you all what is really correct.
A friend captured this little jewel on our local news last month. With all the weird weather across the country, I thought this was timely. Check out the weather in Safford. Arizona can be hot in the summer, but not usually in December and 128 is our all-time record high. It looks like someone’s typing fingers got a little carried away.
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