The most general of general principles
As writers and editors, we should try to keep our eyes and minds open all the time. Styles change, and not all styles are appropriate in every context. Remember that we can never be ‘right’ about language: only more or less pleasing in context.
It is always better to have at least two references covering the same topic. Information is best processed as an average of alternatives.
When our sense of style is in conflict with a client's, we should defer to the client. The exception is in cases where the client prefers an error or an absurdity. At the same time, there is no point in trying to be right or seen to be right. Editors are not teachers, and clients are not paying us to demonstrate how clever we are.
On new and emerging language and current usage
Always avoid neologisms and popular – by which I mean currently fashionable – usage, except where new and emerging usage permits a greater degree of precision than was possible in the past.
Pay particular attention to vague and fatuous vocabulary relating to computers and information technology. Do not say ‘surf’ when you mean to say ‘browse’ or ‘search’ – as in ‘browse the internet’ or ‘search the web’. Do not use the prefix ‘cyber’ outside a discussion of science fiction novels. The general point here is that we should not permit the language of the advertising copywriter to take over the language of intelligent conversation. I do not mean to say that advertising copywriters are not intelligent, but that their language is necessarily imprecise and ambiguous, and that this imprecision and ambiguity restricts our ability to be sensible in intelligent conversation.
On choices between different ways of saying the same thing
Where current usage allows us a choice of two or more ways to say the same thing, I favour the least ambiguous option. We must also defer to the usage expected by the reader. In many cases, this will mean deferring to the usage favoured by a particular publication or institution.
On regional variations in style
Whichever regional style writers believe to be correct is always determined by their own preferences, which are always trumped by what their readers may expect to see. It really doesn’t matter if you prefer to put a comma on the inside or outside of single or double quotation marks. Do what makes sense to you, and be consistent about it; and always be prepared to concede your version of good sense to that of a higher power.
On the third person (general) pronoun in English
As Michael Swan notes in his Practical English Usage, ‘they/them/their is often used to refer to a singular indefinite person... [this] has been normal in English for centuries, and is perfectly correct’. Many editors get their backs up about this, and prefer to represent a singular indefinite person with ‘he’. We should recall that this is a convention, not a rule dictated by sense.
On the idea that it is always bad to use
the same word twice in a sentence
English prose should be like clear soup, not stew: the style should be precise, and should attempt to communicate meaning clearly and unambiguously. Sometimes that will involve using the word ‘should’ three times in a sentence, and this ought not to bother us. Variety for variety’s sake is not in the interest of good sense or good style.
2002/05/25
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Date posted: 2003-09-15