----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BETTER WRITING SKILLS NEWSLETTER, November 2009 Tenth Anniversary Edition (Woo hoo!) By Tim North of Scribe Consulting www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the November 2009 Better Writing Skills newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE 1. Ten years of newsletters 2. Are "accomplishment" and "achievement" different? 3. Do I use a question mark with a polite request? 4. "In the same vein" or "in the same vain"? 5. Just for fun Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just send e-mail to: info@scribe.com.au Cheers, Tim North (Perth, Western Australia) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Ten years of newsletters ----------------------------------------------------------------- Flicking through back issues of the newsletter a few weeks ago, I realised that I e-mailed my first newsletter in November 1999. I won't subject you to any waffling here. (Well, no more than usual.) Let me just say that it's been a pleasure to write the newsletter and to respond to your questions and comments over the years. I've had fun doing it, and I've learned a great deal in the process. What more could I ask? Cheers, Tim. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Are "accomplishment" and "achievement" different? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My first correspondent this month, Kay, asked about the different meanings of "accomplishment" and "achievement". After staring dumbly into space for a while, I had to admit that I couldn't give definitions for these words that made a clear distinction between them. To me they mean the same thing. I checked my favourite dictionaries. The definitions, while different, didn't make a clear (or even consistent) distinction between them. I checked online seeking further enlightenment. To summarise, there were many theories on how these two were claimed to differ but little if any agreement. So, my feeling is that the various claimed distinctions are not widely shared. This leads me to the following recommendation. Even if you feel that "accomplishment" and "achievement" mean different things, you shouldn't assume that this will be true for your readers. If you're going to use these words distinctly, it would be best to define them both clearly at the outset. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2009 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Do I use a question mark with a polite request? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My next correspondent this month, Ronda, wrote: I am confused as to whether a question mark is required when requesting something of a colleague. Technically they are questions, but not ones they really have a choice in responding "no" to. For example: Jim, could you bring the report to me please. Mary, can you courier the books over to our downtown office. That's a great question. My preferred style manual says that you don't need to use a question mark after "polite requests that seek no verbal response". This suggests that the examples above would need a question mark only if you were waiting for a "yes" or "no" answer. If that's not the case, you can correctly write them without question marks. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2009 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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.scribe.com.au/newsletter.html Thanks for helping to make this newsletter so successful! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. "In the same vein" or "in the same vain"? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My final correspondent this month, Grace, wrote in seeking clarification on "vein" versus "vain": I am putting together a yearbook for my son's school and one of the contributors has written the following: I would like to congratulate them on these strengths and urge them to continue in the same vain as they ... I believe it should be: I would like to congratulate them on these strengths and urge them to continue in the same vein as they ... Could you advise me on the correct usage, please. You're correct in your usage, Grace. Here's part of the entry from the Macquarie Dictionary: vein: (noun) ... 10. mood; temper; disposition: "In a jocular vein, he offered to give evidence of that." (As a quick aside to my Australian readers, the Macquarie has just come out in a fifth edition. So if you have a language geek in your family and you haven't yet chosen a Christmas gift ... problem solved!) Dictionaries don't always give clear answers to our questions, though. For example, if the definition above still left you uncertain, you could always turn to Google. Google can be a helpful source of advice with choices like these. If we enter both phrases (with quotation marks), it has this to say: "in the same vein" 13,100,000 pages "in the same vain" 352,000 pages This strongly suggests that most people (at least online) use the "e" spelling for this phrase. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2009 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Just for fun ----------------------------------------------------------------- This month test your knowledge with the rather whimsical "Cheese or font?": http://cheeseorfont.mogrify.org Enjoy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like more help with your writing? ----------------------------------------------------------------- On my web site, you'll find my range of jargon-free, downloadable e-books that will help you to become a better writer. These e-books will help you with business proposals, report writing, term papers, technical writing, grant writing, creative writing and more: http://www.scribe.com.au/ebooks.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- REPRODUCING THIS MATERIAL You're welcome to reproduce the articles from this newsletter that are copyrighted by Tim North, but please don't modify or sell them. 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