----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BETTER WRITING SKILLS NEWSLETTER, May 2007 By Tim North of Scribe Consulting (http://www.scribe.com.au) http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the May 2007 Better Writing Skills newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE 1. Holiday! 2. Is it time to prune English back a little? 3. "In progress" or "in process"? 4. The role of PDF files on web sites 5. Just for fun Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just send e-mail to: info@BetterWritingSkills.com Cheers, Tim North Perth, Western Australia ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Holiday! ----------------------------------------------------------------- My happy news this month is that I'm off on holiday. This Sunday morning (at a truly ungodly hour), I'll be winging my way from Western Australia to Las Vegas. After a few days there, I'll be hiring a car and driving around south-west USA for a couple of weeks. As I'm a keen amateur photographer, I'm hoping to be able to take a few nice photos. A few days after I get back, I'll be off again to spend the long weekend at the beginning of June (a local holiday) with friends a few hours south of Perth. All of this means that next month's issue may be a week late, but you can expect to find me very relaxed when next you hear from me. :-) -- Tim N. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Is it time to prune English back a little? ----------------------------------------------------------------- In last month's issue, we noted that Tesco supermarkets in Britain had agreed to replace signs saying "10 items or less" with "Up to 10 items". We discussed the subtle difference between "less" and "fewer" that had prompted this change, and I asked if such differences were worth bothering with. I went on to say: And what about other similar distinctions: "who" versus "whom" or "further" versus "farther"? Can we ignore these? Ignoring these distinctions may (and I say "may" advisedly) be incorrect, but is a difference that makes no difference really worth bothering with? Is it time to prune English back a little? The British Council -- a not-for-profit British group -- commissioned a report in 2006 called "English Next". One of the aims of the report was to identify factors influencing the changing form of contemporary English. The report focused on the spread of English as a second language. It estimated (p. 98-99) that around 1.8 *billion* people are currently learning English. With so many people learning the language, it is no surprise that English will have to adapt to their needs: Anyone who believes that native speakers of English remain in control of these developments [changes to English] will be very troubled. This book suggests that it is native speakers who, perhaps, should be the most concerned. But the fact is, that the future development of English in the world is now a global concern and should be troubling us all. The book ... focuses particularly on the impact of the rising giant economies of India and China and the impact they might have on the use of global English (p. 12). So, let's turn back to the issue of that sign in Tesco supermarkets. Hands up anyone who thinks that many learners of English care about the subtle, traditional distinctions between "less" and "fewer", "who" and "whom", or "further" and "farther"? Let's face it, most *native* speakers can't explain the differences between any of these pairs. :-) As English becomes global, I strongly believe that global English will simplify. This will allow it to better cater to the needs of the majority of its users -- people who have learned it as a second language. Your homework ------------- For those of you who would like some homework, here it is. :-) The British Council have two wonderful publications on their web site. One is mentioned above. The other was commissioned back in 1997. Both are enlightening reads: "The Future of English" (1997) www.britishcouncil.org/learning-research-futureofenglish.htm "English Next" (2006) www.britishcouncil.org/learning-research-englishnext.htm Enjoy. (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. "In progress" or "in process"? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My correspondent this month, Sharon, wrote in with the following question: Can you help me to understand when to use "in process" vs. "in progress"? The meeting is in process/progress. The document is a work in process/progress. The project status is in process/progress. I'd never encountered any of the "in process" examples before Sharon's e-mail. This suggested to me that it may be a regional usage. As an Aussie, I use British English, so I started by doing a bit of Googling to see if "in process" was much used in Britain: "a work in progress" site:uk 175,000 hits "a work in process" site:uk 187 hits Bingo! "In process" seems to be almost unknown among British writers on the web. The dot-com part of the web, though, is dominated by users of US English. Let's see what they do: "a work in progress" site:com 1,230,000 hits (95%) "a work in process" site:com 68,600 hits ( 5%) This leads me to observe that the "in process" variation does occur more often among users of US English. Clearly, though, it is still a minority usage. I'd thus suggest writing "in progress" in all cases. Far more of your readers will find it to be the natural usage. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you know someone who'd like this newsletter? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a friend or colleague who'd find the Better Writing Skills newsletter interesting? If so, please feel free to send a copy of this issue to them. Alternatively, please tell them they can browse back issues here: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/newsletter.html Thanks for helping to make this newsletter so successful! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. The role of PDF files on web sites ----------------------------------------------------------------- Adobe's portable document format (PDF) is a widely used file format for allowing documents to be shared among computer users, regardless of the type of computer being used or the presence of specific fonts. Documents created in a word processor, for example Microsoft Word, can be converted to PDF format using Adobe's "Acrobat Professional" software (a commercial product). These PDF documents can then be viewed and printed using Adobe's free "Adobe Reader" software. Well known Internet "usability" expert Jakob Nielsen has argued strongly against presenting online information to users as PDF files. I'm a big fan of Jakob Nielsen. I think he's said many wise things about improving the clarity of writing destined for the web or an intranet. In a recent newsletter, he wrote: Users get lost inside PDF files, which are typically big, linear text blobs that are optimized for print and unpleasant to read and navigate online. PDF is good for printing, but that's it. Don't use it for online presentation. www.useit.com/alertbox/20030714.html I understand the point he's making. PDF files can be difficult to read on a computer screen, particularly if they're formatted in two or more columns. You have to scroll down one column then back up to the top of the page to get to the next column then down again. It's all a bit difficult. Organisations, though, often have large amounts of information in PDF format that they would like to share with users. It's not always realistic to undertake the work necessary to translate this into multiple, short, easily navigable web or intranet pages. How then should we make use of PDF files online? A reasonable compromise is to create what Nielsen calls "gateway pages": * All links to the information should be to the gateway page; none should go directly to the PDF file. * The gateway page should include a short summary of the PDF file so that users can assess whether they want to go to the trouble of entering PDF-land. * The gateway page should clearly warn users that they'll be getting a PDF file. It should also state the file's page count and download size. www.useit.com/alertbox/20030728.html Used in this way, users will get an overview of the document from the summary and can then decide whether or not to download the full document for subsequent printing. Hope this helps. -- This short article is adapted from Chapter 1 of my e-book "Writing for the Online Environment". You can find more information (including the complete table of contents) here: http://www.betterwritingskills.com/ebooks.html (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Just for fun ----------------------------------------------------------------- This month have a look at this well researched article on the origins and meaning of "OK": http://straightdope.com/classics/a2_250.html Enjoy. See you in mid-June. ----------------------------------------------------------------- REPRODUCING THIS MATERIAL Permission is granted to reproduce those articles that are copyrighted by Tim North, subject to them not being modified or sold. Please provide a clickable link back to: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com Additional freely republishable articles can be found here: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/free-articles.html FUTURE MAILINGS You can prevent (or receive) future mailings by visiting this page: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/newsletter.html This is a GENUINE service, and you will not receive any unsolicited e-mail as a result. You have my word on it. -----------------------------------------------------------------