Spooktacular language facts on Halloween

  •  The dot over the lower case i is called a tittle.
  • There is only one word in English with three consecutive sets of double letters … Bookkeeper
  • There is a word in English with only one vowel, which occurs five times: “indivisibility.”
  • There is a seven letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, “therein”: the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein.
  • There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: abstemious and facetious.
  • There are only two sequences of four consecutive letters that “rstu” and “mnop.” Examples of each are understudy and gymnophobia.
  • The shortest word in the English language with all its letters in alphabetical order is the word almost.
  • The Philippines has more than 1,000 regional dialects and two official languages.
  • The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis.
  • The longest one syllable word is screeched.
  • The letter most in use in the English language is “E” and the letter “Q” is least used.
  • Of all the words in the English language, the word “set” has the most definitions.
  • Of all the languages in the world, English has the largest vocabulary about 800,000 words.
  • No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

Bangorrhea!

Great article for linguists and those people who (like me) are irritated by the overuse of exclamation marks. Great name for it by the way – bangorrhea. Could it also be a flightless bird from Wales!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23781044

Do women do this more than men as the article claims?

I notice a lot of them [!] in students’ assignments and also far too many capitals on words that should never have them (Table, Chair etc). Anyone want to suggest a word for using capitals too much/indiscriminately? I will email suggestions to the Urban Dictionary?

Questionnaire Design

Things to Avoid when Asking Questions

  • Complex Question: questions that are too difficult for the respondents to answer
  • Leading and Loaded Questions
  • leading questions: questions that point respondents towards the answer desired by the researcher
  • loaded questions: questions that both point respondents towards a particular answer and are emotional laden
  • Ambiguous Questions: Questions that do not provide respondents with enough information so as to intelligently answer the question
  • Double barrelled questions: including two different questions in one.
  • Burdensome questions: questions that would require the respondents to put more effort into answering the questionnaire than they are willing to provide
  • assumption questions: questions where researchers assume respondents have information they don’t have

Issues in questionnaire lay out

Pre-testing the questionnaire

  • there are many things that pre-testing a questionnaire can accomplish
  • how long it will take respondents to answer the questionnaire
  • are there any problem questions
  • is it possible to analyse the answers given the way the researcher expects
  • steps in pre-testing a questionnaire
  • develop initial questionnaire
  • administer it to a convenience sample
  • analyse results
  • revise questionnaire
  • conduct additional pre-tests as necessary

Designing questionnaires for global markets

  • questionnaires that are administered in global markets have the additional problems associated with different languages
  • the best way to translate questionnaires is through “Back translation”
  • the questionnaire is initially translated into the other language
  • the translated questionnaire is then translated back into the original language
  • the original and the “Back translated” questionnaires are compared
  • any differences in meaning are addressed

Open-ended versus closed-ended questions

  • open-ended questions: questions where no answers are provided for respondents to select from
  • closed-ended questions: questions where alternatives are given for respondents to select among

 

Proofreading text 2

As we enter the new millenium it difficult to avoid thinking about how the world is changing. In the 1980’s few people had even seen a computer, let alone owned one. Now they are on most children’ christmas wish lists. In the 1990’s satellite television was a new and wondrous thing – no less than sixteen channels through one ariel! Compare that figure with the hundreds available today. Digital broadcasting has changed our lives to such an extent that the question is no longer ‘TV or not TV’ (to misquote Shakespear), but ‘Could we manage without it?’ Can you imagine life a hundred years ago, when there was neither television or radio. For us, it doesn’t bare thinking about, but perhaps our

great-grandparents were equally as content to sit around a piano as we are to stare at a screen. There would have been no disagreement about what channel to watch, at least.

Which would you chose as the best of the two period’s in which to live?  In 1900 there was less leisure time, accommodation was terribly cramped and there were two word wars to come (not to mention the Spanish flu epidemic which was responsible for more deaths that the Second Worl War); a holiday was a luxury and there was no modern conveniences. I am not infering that all is now perfect. Today we have global warming, gridlocked traffic, GM foods, BSE, AIDS and many other unwelcome contractions, abbreviations and annagrams – problems all partly or wholy attributable to technological advances. On balance, though, I think I would prefer to take my chances in todays silicone-enhanced world of bits and bites than in the troubled times of our forbears.

Proofreading text 1

Burglers – Keep Out!

Rushclife has the lowest burlgary rate in the county. But we cant afford to drop our gaurd.  Reducing burglary even further is a high priority. In May, Rushcliffe Community Safety Partnership launched too projects which will help us reduce it further.

‘If in doubt keep them out’ is a extencion of our successful ‘Doorstopers’ Campaign and will inforn elderly and vulnerible people and the pubic about the need to be suspisious about unexpected callers. Most people who call at you home will be geniune but don’t forget that appearences can be deceptive and bogus callers come in various guises. Be on your guard and always think before you open the door. Look at who it is, leave your door chain on and ask to sea the caller’s identity card.  Check them out by ringing their company using the telephone book – genuine callers will not mind. Get a door sticker and a copy of our free leaflet for more advise.

The second initiative – ‘Safe and Sound’ – looks at other types of burglary. The partnershop has negotiated a discount of 15% at two local companys  – Cookson’s Master Lockmiths of LadyBay and Safeway Security of Gamston. To get the discount, Rushcliffe residents need to get an copy of the Safe and Sound leaflet by calling the Council on 015 918 9911. The leaflet not only contains the discout voucher, but gives detailed advise on how to avoid becoming a burglary victimn. There’s also a specific grant scheme where the Police and council officers  (eg housing, Social Services, Home Helps etc) will refere a person who they feel would benefit from security improvments to there home. This grant will pay towards security measures such as door locks, chains, window locks and lightening.

Down with capitalism

I am fed up with misplaced capitals – get rid of them where possible.

It’s lower case for seasons, points of the compass, but upper for proper nouns, full titles of organisations, names of companies and organisations, political parties, trade names, books, films, publications.

It’s small ‘i’ for internet, worldwide web, the government, descriptive job titles as in communications director, but capitals when a formal title as is President of XYZ organisation, thereafter president. Go small whenever you can.

The trend in modern English usage is to avoid unnecessary initial capitals. Very few words are true proper nouns and really need an initial capital. Some words which used to start with a capital (the seasons are a good example) no longer do.

Avoid too many capital letters in a sequence, as they are difficult to read.

Capitals can have a punctuating effect that hinder the smooth flow of the eye over the words. Compare the distracting:

Factors that May Affect the Success of the Strategy

with

Factors that may affect the success of the strategy

Derbysire County Council needs initial capitals, but the council, county council, local councillors don’t.

• Council Tax doesn’t need initial caps, council tax is fine.

Job titles should be lower case: chief executive, head of communications etc. This rule applies in body text (‘Robert Smith, head of communications, spoke at the meeting…’) where the title is descriptive of the work or position of the individual. However, in formal situations (addressing envelopes, signing off correspondence etc), job titles should be capitalised where lower case would look wrong, thus:

Chief Executive, Derbyshire Building Society

Initial capitals can be used for the names of specific departments, committees, teams etc, when they are referred to in full. For example: Performance Management Board, but subsequent references to the department or the committee should be lower case.

Avoid blocks of capitals LIKE THIS WHICH ARE HARD TO READ.

Writing adverts

Adverts are used for number of purposes –
• Gain acceptance of product to help secure distribution
• Give a product profile
• Introduce a new idea
• Stimulate demand for a brand/counter competitors brands
• Boost confidence of sales staff
• Announce offers, promotions
• Raise public awareness of topic
• Inform candidates of job vacancies

Writing adverts
Adverts can be oral and visual as well as written. Written adverts can be longer and can be perused slowly and more than once unlike radio or TV advert. Advertiser has power to use more content in written adv. Written ads can be placed in a variety of media including- newspapers and magazines, posters sites and bus stops, notice board in public paces (eg library, shops), on programmes at sporting events, on book wrappers, at point of sale, direct mail, envelopes etc.
Media can be classified according to editorial contents, circulation size, area and type (eg free or paid for), type of reader (socio-economic group, age etc), frequency of publications (daily), production (eg colour) and cost of advertising space

Selecting the right medium – the widest coverage of your target audience, with greatest frequency, with greatest credibility at the lowest cosy

The message – Purpose is to attract attention, hold the attention, persuade the reader to act or make a decision.

The selling theme –
• Start with a list of the product’s features
• Highlight those which are new/different from competitors
• Identify those suitable to your target audience
• Turn the features into benefits
• Select the best selling points – price, quality convenience?

Unique selling point – unique feature/benefit which product has over its competitors

The copy – draft a few statements to outline selected benefits, dilute those that don’t fit the main theme, find some powerful words

Commandments for advertising copy
• Be simple – use short easy sentences
• Be interesting – use vivid words, attract attention, surprise, arouse curiosity
• Be brief – be direct, small areas of text, leave out padding
• Be positive – motivate, don’t use negatives
• Be factual and honest
• Be original – use original angles
• Be empathetic
• Be instructive – state clearly how, when and where to order

The mnemonic is a good way to remember about advertising copy
IE POSH FIBS
Interesting, Emphatic, Positive, Original, Simple, Honest, Factual, Instructive, Brief,
Self-contained

Advertising style
1. Emphasis – repetition, graphic design, sentence structure
2. Pace and fluency – varying pace, para length
3. Informality – use colloquial language
4. Appeal to audience motivations – ie free, new, value, quality
5. Credibility and congeniality – need to create trust and persuasion
6. Presentation – use space, good typestyle, colour, shape and texture, illustration
7. Headlines and slogans – use puns, questions, controversial statements, humour etc

Hyphens

Hyphens

A hyphen denotes two or more words to be read as one but try to cut and join if you can.  Check dictionaries.

 The hyphen ( ‐ ) is used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. It is often confused with dashes ( –, —, ― ), which are longer and have different uses.

Hyphens are mostly used to break single words into parts or to join ordinarily separate words into single words. Spaces should not be placed between a hyphen and either of the words it connects except when using a suspended or “hanging” hyphen (e.g. nineteenth- and twentieth-century writers).

A definitive collection of hyphenation rules does not exist but styles prescribe different usage guidelines. The rules of style that apply to dashes and hyphens have evolved to support ease of reading in complex constructions.

The use of the hyphen has been steadily declining. Compounds that might once have been hyphenated are increasingly left with spaces or are combined into one word. The advent of the internet and the increasing prevalence of computer technology have given rise to a subset of common nouns that may in the past have been hyphenated (eg toolbar). yphenation is also routinely used to avoid unsightly spacing in justified texts (for example, in newspaper columns).

Certain prefixes (co-, pre-, mid-, de-, non-, anti-, etc.) may or may not be hyphenated. Many long-established words, such as preamble and degrade, do not require a hyphen since the prefix is viewed as fully fused. In other cases, usage varies depending on individual or regional preference eg in English we say pre-schoo. A hyphen is mandatory when a prefix is applied to a proper (capitalized) adjective (un-American, de-Stalinisation). Hyphens may be employed where readers would otherwise be tempted into a mispronunciation (eg co-worker is so punctuated partly to prevent the reader’s eye being caught automatically by the word cow).

When a compound modifier other than an adverb-adjective appears before a term, the compound modifier is often hyphenated to prevent misunderstanding, such as in American-football player or real-world example. Without the hyphen, there is potential confusion about whether American applies to football or player, or whether the author might perhaps be referring to a “world example” that is “real”. Compound modifiers can extend to three or more words, as in ice-cream-flavored candy, and can be adverbial as well as adjectival (spine-tinglingly frightening).

Hyphens should normally not be used in adverb–adjective modifiers such as wholly owned subsidiary and quickly moving vehicle, because the adverbs clearly modify the adjectives; “quickly” cannot modify “vehicle”. Hyphens are used to connect numbers and words in forming adjectival phrases (particularly with weights and measures), whether using numerals or words for the numbers, as in 28-year-old woman and twenty-eight-year-old woman or 320-foot wingspan. The same usually holds for abbreviated time units. Hyphens are also used in spelled-out fractions as adjectives (but not as nouns), such as two-thirds majority and one-eighth portion.

An en-dash ( – ) sometimes replaces the hyphen in hyphenated compounds if either of its constituent parts is already hyphenated or contains a space (e.g. high-priority–high-pressure tasks (tasks which are both high-priority and high-pressure). En dashes are more proper than hyphens in ranges (pp. 312–14), relationships (blood–brain barrier) and to convey the sense of “to”, as in Nottingham-Lincoln race.