Jean Reynolds's Blog, page 58

What Do Your Language Habits Say about You?

Some years ago I published a reflective piece in a spiritual magazine. To my surprise, I received a phone call from a reader who wanted me to help her unravel a powerful dream she’d had a few nights earlier.

Dreams are not an area of expertise for me, and I probably wasn’t much help. But we had a pleasant talk anyway about an interest we shared in common – Jungian psychology. The clue to our shared interest came from one word in our conversation: she described her dream as “numinous.” Only someone who’s read Carl Jung, Marion Woodman, or another Jungian would be likely to use that word.

And that brings me to today’s point: Our language practices transmit many clues about our backgrounds, interests, and education – often without any awareness on our part. It’s an idea I’ve been thinking about ever since I read a provocative article in a recent issue of The New Yorker: “The Case for Black English.” 

I will leave it to the experts to argue about Black English (often called “Ebonics). It’s another topic – like dreams – that’s largely outside my experience. But I do have something to say – a lot, actually – about the kinds of language choices we’re faced with as English speakers in the 21st century. To me, they all revolve around a single question: Do I want to sound like myself?

I know that sounds strange, but to many people (like me) it’s a huge issue. We reveal parts of ourselves every time we open our mouths, pick up a pen, or tap a keyboard. And even though our language patterns are intimately our own, we may not be aware of the messages they’re sending.

I once spent a morning with a Hispanic activist who was proud of her down-to-earth, woman-of-the-people persona. She was astounded when I asked how she’d come to attend an expensive private school as a child – it was a part of her life story she never revealed to anyone. But there it was, in her speech: why else was she using a possessive noun with every gerundive? Nobody in public school is ever taught that rule. (I came across it in a book I was reading for graduate school.)

My personal Achilles heel is my @#$%! Long Island accent.  Every word out of my mouth carries a Long Island label. It’s especially noticeable in my vowels: We Long Islanders purse our lips when we talk, so that we say cawfee, not coffee, and dawg, not dog. My grammar and usage immediately tag me as a college graduate, but my accent plants me firmly in a middle-income town on Long Island (even though I moved away in 1974).

I have a friend who comes from a background similar to mine. She grew up in middle-class Long Island and holds a doctorate. She has a high-powered job and a very public presence in academia. And – most interesting of all – she has not a trace of a Long Island accent. How did she do it? I’ve never dared to ask if she went to a speech therapist – she’d probably rather have everyone think that those perfect vowels came naturally to her.

There are plenty of highly qualified – even brilliant – experts out there who insist that we should leave people’s language habits alone. Long Islanders can sound different from Bostonians and Chicagoans. Bring on the Hispanic accents, Ebonics, and Valley Girl slang. Let freedom ring!

I have a different take on all of this. I would never presume to tell anyone to change their language habits. But over the years I’ve told many students about my struggles to tame my born-in-New-York speech. The point is that each of us can – and should, I think – have some control over the messages we transmit when we talk and write.

And so I’ve parted ways with some New York speech habits. I’ve replaced radiator  (the first syllable sounds a little like “rat”) with radiator (similar to “radiate”). I usually (not always, alas!) remember to put an “r” into words like sparkle and particular. The result is that I sound a little less insular (ha!) and slightly more worldly. I’ve been to Europe multiple times – why shouldn’t I sound like it?

I wish experts would focus less on regionalisms and more on empowerment. It’s ok to make choices – even if they involve (gasp!) deciding not reveal your ethnicity or background with every sentence.

Despite my quest for a more neutral accent, I have firmly rejected some of the language advice that was foisted on me in college. When I talk, diaper is two syllables (even though it’s supposed to have three), and I always say that I went to St. Joseph’s College (with an s, not the z you’re supposed to use).

Choices. Power. That’s what language is all about – or should be about. And we, not the politicians or bureaucrats, should be the ones making the decisions. Yes, let freedom ring – but let it be an enlightened freedom, with an array of possibilities to choose from.

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                                  Long Island

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[image error] Instant Quiz ANSWER

Use quotation marks only when you’re quoting someone’s exact words. If you reword what someone said, don’t use the quotation marks.

When I asked Luke about his new apartment, he said that he was glad he’d decided to make the move. CORRECT

If you’re quoting Luke exactly, the quotation marks are correct:

When I asked Luke about his new apartment, he said, “I’m glad I decided to make the move.”

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What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

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“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Instant Quiz

[image error]Instant Quiz 

Can you spot the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

Yesterday I had to change my cloths after getting caught in heavy rain.

 

John McWhorter

John McWhorter is giving me fits.

I should explain that McWhorter teaches linguistics and English at Columbia University, and he writes bestselling books that I absolutely love.

But – and this is a serious problem in my eyes – he is fond of a despicable sentence construction that involves an although fragment pretending to be a sentence. For example, on page 104 of Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English, McWhorter is discussing a “quirk of word order” that appears in all Germanic languages except one (English!). Here’s McWhorter’s comment:

Its absence in that one (guess which one!!) is odd. Although, given the one it is absent from also shucked off so much else, maybe it’s not odd.

No, John. Please don’t use although that way.

But don’t people use although that way all the time? Yes, they do. Here are two examples:

I’m planning to major in accounting. Although, I may decide that the hospitality field is a better choice for me.

That sofa is a perfect size for our living room. Although, it may be too expensive.

So what’s the problem?

Professional writers don’t use although this way. Today’s examples are constructed in a colloquial style. People really do use although this way – but only in casual conversation.

In the professional world, there are two things you need to know about although:

You can’t put a comma after although
Any group of words that begins with although is an extra idea that has to be attached to a real sentence.

So (again, I’m talking about professional writing:)

That sofa is a perfect size for our living room although it may be too expensive.  CORRECT

Although it may be too expensive, that sofa is a perfect size for our living room. CORRECT

(You can learn more about how professionals use although at this link. The article you’ll be reading is the most popular post on my blog!)

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Now I want to shift to the real topic for today: the difference between speech and writing. If you’re texting, or sending an email to a friend, the points I’m going to make don’t matter. But if you want to be a professional writer, they matter a lot. Although, writers like John McWhorter don’t seem to worry about that distinction.

(Did you catch it? Gack.)

Writers I work with often ask how to reproduce the sounds and patterns of speech in a piece of writing: a dramatic pause – an emphatic word – a strong feeling.

The yearning to transfer voice to paper (or computer screen) explains why so many writers want to insert a comma after but (it doesn’t belong there) and use quotation marks for emphasis (which doesn’t work). Another no-no (and this one always surprises writing students) is the use of exclamation marks. They’re ok in comic books and emails, but they’re forbidden in formal writing.

Here’s the hard truth. Speech and writing are different. If you write like you talk, you’re going to get a lot of negative feedback from teachers and editors. And if you talk like you write, your friends are going to find you pompous and affected.

So how do you do dramatic pauses? You can use an ellipsis…if you’re careful. If you overuse the ellipsis…readers will be annoyed. Most writers soon discover that dramatic pauses don’t transfer well to writing, and they give up the attempt.

What about emphasis? Italics are useful, but the same principle applies. Overdo it, and readers will stop reading your article or book. Strong feelings? You have to rewrite the sentence to convey the strong feeling without the exclamation mark at the end.

Or you can do what John McWhorter has done: Become a bestselling author and break the rules whenever you feel like it. Did you notice that there are not one but two exclamation marks in that sample you read earlier?

Its absence in that one (guess which one!!) is odd. Although, given the one it is absent from also shucked off so much else, maybe it’s not odd.

My own approach to writing is more conservative than McWhorter’s. Few things are certain in this life, but I can confidently predict that I will go to the grave without ever, ever having put a comma after although.

Although, I’ve done it again and again in this post.

Sigh. The things we writers do to make a point! I hope I’ve convinced you that it’s not a good practice – unless, of course, you don’t care about writing like a professional. But then you wouldn’t be reading this blog, would you?

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       John McWhorter

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Don’t confuse cloths (fabrics) with clothes (apparel).

Yesterday I had to change my clothes after getting caught in heavy rain.  CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

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“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Instant Quiz

[image error]Instant Quiz 

Can you spot the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

“I’ve lost my keys twice this week”, said Kathy, shaking her head.

 

 

A Warning for Writers

About 16 years ago, a friend and I decided to write a book called Police Talk to help police officers communicate better. She was a major in a police department, and I had already written a book about police reports. The collaboration went well, and eventually we published the book ourselves.

Before long, a commercial publisher approached us with a proposal to take over the book. We liked the terms they offered and signed the contract. Our book is still in the publisher’s catalog, and it’s still selling, years later.

I’m telling you this true story to help you learn the difference between what happened to Mary (my co-author) and me – and something unfortunate that’s happening to many hopeful writers. Lately I’ve talked to several people who had been sucked in (or almost sucked in) by publishing promotions that were high in price but low in quality and services.

Here’s a story I heard last week. A friend received an email from a company that wanted to know if he was interested in publishing with them. What a stroke of luck! He had a book ready to go – all he needed was a publisher. The offer sounded like a bargain: he’d be getting an ISBN, artwork for the cover, a free listing on Amazon.com (including their “Look Inside” feature), an ebook, and worldwide distribution. He could already see dollar bills dancing in his head.

But first he called me to see what I thought – and was chagrined when I told him that all those services (and more) were available at absolutely no cost from CreateSpace. (In case you’re wondering: I have no affiliation with CreateSpace and do not make a penny for praising their services).

Same story, different company, happened to another friend in academic publishing.

Same story, different company, happened to another friend who was writing a self-help book.

Notice what was different from my experience: those three publishers were fishing. They weren’t after a specific book that had already impressed them. And here’s a bigger difference: they wanted the authors to bear all the costs.

And there are other potential problems. With some companies you lose control over pricing, and in some cases you might lose the rights to your book. In the unlikely event that a big publisher wants your book later (my Police Talk story), you might have no say in the matter – and you wouldn’t get paid when the rights to your book were transferred.

So why do writers sign on with these less-than-scrupulous companies? Three big reasons:

They don’t know about CreateSpace.
They’re dazzled by the glitzy presentation, especially the promise that their book will be included in the publisher’s catalog.
These companies provide one important service that CreateSpace doesn’t offer free: formatting your book.

So let’s examine these three points more closely. CreateSpace is a publishing service offered by Amazon.com. It’s legit, and it’s free. (I’ve published five books with them and helped three other authors do the same thing.) ‘Nuff said about that.

The catalog offer is pretty worthless, in my opinion. How many readers are going to see it? Not many. Yes, it’s nice to be in a catalog – but is that worth a thousand dollars (or more) to you?

On to the biggie – formatting. Turning a messy manuscript into a professional published book is not a task for the faint of heart. I had a tough time with it when I self-published my first book.

But here’s the thing: You can hire someone to do the formatting for a lot less than you’d pay one of these companies. CreateSpace offers paid formatting services, or you can find someone yourself (probably for less than you’d pay CreateSpace).

Or you can take your time and learn how to do it yourself. That’s what I did. You need patience and some resources. CreateSpace has templates and articles to take you through the process. You can buy a book about Word or borrow one from the library. You can use Google if you get stuck. You can take a class (many libraries offer them free or at low cost).

Yes, I’ve known writers who throw up their hands when I urge them to learn a few word-processing skills. It’s all beyond them. They won’t even try to learn.

And here’s my reaction (usually unspoken): How the hell do you expect to market your book successfully if you won’t spend a few minutes each day learning how to use a computer?

The fact is that no publisher is going to spend bucks promoting a book by a new author. It’s up to you. And for that you’re going to need time, energy, creativity, and – guess what! – computer skills.

The inexperienced authors I know usually think their friends will buy the book, and then it will catch on, and soon they’ll be rolling in money. Folks, it doesn’t work that way.

I have a friend who’s a master at self-promotion. He self-published his book and then talked various businesses into throwing parties to promote it. He even wangled donations of wine and hors d’oeuvres. For a while he basked in the satisfaction of finding himself at the center of a whirlwind of publicity. And then – guess what. He’d sold copies to everyone in our small town who was interested in his book. And then the whole project fizzled.

My own policy is not to sell copies of my books to friends. If someone is really interested, I’ll sell them a copy at my cost. Nobody in the world (except maybe Pope Francis and Lin-Manuel Miranda) has enough friends to turn a book into a bestseller.

If you’re thinking about publishing a book (and I hope you are!), you can find advice and resources at this link. Please try CreateSpace! You’ll have fun, and there’s nothing like the satisfaction of seeing your own book in print.

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[image error] Instant Quiz ANSWER

In the US, commas (and periods) always go inside quotation marks. There are no exceptions. (The United Kingdom does it differently.)

“I’ve lost my keys twice this week,” said Kathy, shaking her head. CORRECT

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What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

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“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Instant Quiz

[image error]Instant Quiz 

Can you spot the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

Either my sisters or my brother have up-to-date information about the selling price for the house.

 

 

Little Women

I’m celebrating! PBS just announced that it’s planning a three-hour miniseries based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women. (You can read more about the project at this link.)

Alcott (1832-1888) is famous for her books for girls, most of which I read again and again when I was growing up – and returned to many times after that. Alcott herself was dismissive of those books, calling them “moral pap for the young.” But I think she was probably mistaken about their quality, and last year I undertook an experiment to see whether I was right.

What many Alcott fans don’t know is that she also wrote fiction for adult readers – mature, true-to-life novels about the relationships between men and women,  and sensational stories about passion, betrayal, and murder. (Alcott fans also may not know that she lived on a commune as a child, had a crush on Ralph Waldo Emerson, ran a school with Henry David Thoreau, and served as a nurse in the Civil War. Have you figured out why she fascinates me?)

Back to Alcott’s writing. I started thinking about that “moral pap for the young” remark and decided I wanted to take a look at her mature writing. So last year I read the novel she considered her finest work – Moods. (You can use the link to download it free to any e-reader.) And what I discovered was that Moods is almost unreadable…until the story changes from an adult romance to a tale about a lively tomboy and her journey to womanhood. (Gee, it almost sounds like Little Women, doesn’t it?)

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter I of Moods. The speaker is Ottila, a worldly-wise woman who has just learned that her fiancé no longer loves her:

“I, too, desire to be just. I will not reproach, defy, or lament, but leave my fate to you. I am all you say, yet in your judgment remember mercy, and believe that at twenty-five there is still hope for the noble but neglected nature, still time to repair the faults of birth, education, and orphanhood. You say, I have a daring will, a love of conquest. Can I not will to overcome myself and do it? Can I not learn to be the woman I have seemed? Love has worked greater miracles, may it not work this?”

Gack. I had to force myself to keep reading.

And here (relief is on the way!) is the opening dialogue to Chapter II, which introduces a tomboy named Sylvia who will grow up in the course of the novel:

“Come, Sylvia, it is nine o’clock! Little slug-a-bed, don’t you mean to get up to-day?” said Miss Yule, bustling into her sister’s room with the wide-awake appearance of one to whom sleep was a necessary evil, to be endured and gotten over as soon as possible.

“No, why should I?” And Sylvia turned her face away from the flood of light that poured into the room as Prue put aside the curtains and flung up the window.

Notice any difference?

Alcott fancied herself a sophisticated writer of mature novels – but her grown-up characters are stiff and unnatural. Hardly anyone reads Moods any more (I would never have stuck with it if I hadn’t been curious about Alcott). But her stories and books for girls are still alive and real – and the writing is often superb.

Doubt me? Click this link to try an activity based on Little Women that I sometimes use at writing workshops. I think you’ll see that Alcott was a masterful writer when (and this is a big qualifier) she stuck to what came naturally to her.

There are a couple of lessons here for all of us. First, we need to practice unflinching criticism of our own work. That first chapter of Moods should never have seen the light of day. (Years later Alcott actually revised it out of her novel). Learn how to spot bad writing, and be merciless about fixing or getting rid of it.

Second, know where your energies lie. Learn to pick up the internal and external signals that a writing project is (or isn’t!) working. Writers have told me that they type faster when a piece is going well – or their bodies feel lighter – or there’s a gentle humming noise in their heads. Try to figure out what subjects and genres work best for you, and direct your writing energies there.

Most important, love your work. Generations of girls have laughed and cried over Little Women. I went back to reread it a few years ago and was astonished by the amount of Transcendental philosophy that found its way into this apparently simple tale of four girls who are stumbling into adulthood. (“Moral pap” indeed!) I wish Alcott had been able to take pride in what she’d accomplished.

Alcott’s dismissive attitude towards her books for girls doesn’t do her any credit, and it makes me feel ashamed of finding so much pleasure in beloved books like Jack and Jill, An Old-Fashioned Girl, Little Men, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, and A Garland for Girls. (Jo’s Boys is the only Alcott novel – besides Moods – that I found impossibly tough going. I never did finish reading it, despite multiple tries.)

Bottom line: If you yearn to be a writer, focus on who you are rather than who you wish you were – and use that knowledge to guide your writing.

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

When you write an either/or sentence, ignore the beginning and focus your attention on the or part. Once you’re there, it’s easy to get the verb right.

Either my sisters or my brother has up-to-date information about the selling price for the house.  CORRECT

Incidentally, neither/nor sentences work the same way.

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

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“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Instant Quiz

[image error]Instant Quiz 

Can you spot the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

We were glad to plop in front of the TV after a long tiring day.

 

What Do Words Mean?

Charlie and I are at a mountain resort in New York for several days of fishing (we throw the fish back), hiking, and eating. The food here is superb, and as an extra delight, there’s a soda fountain where we share an egg cream every afternoon.

If you’re not a New Yorker, you’ve probably never had an egg cream. This resort is two hours north of the city, so it was a surprise to find egg creams offered here. (Perhaps a homesick Brooklynite decided to add them to the soda fountain offerings.)

The name is a misnomer because the ingredients include neither eggs nor cream. Egg creams are made from milk, seltzer, and chocolate syrup. Nobody knows for sure how this wonderful drink acquired its name.

The term “egg cream” is a perfect illustration for an issue I want to talk about today: the changing meanings of words. Opinions are divided about how you properly determine the meaning of a word. Some experts say that you need to stick as closely as possible to the original meaning. Other experts say you need to go with the flow. Who is right?

The second group. (I can hear yelps!)

I will concede that the first group has some strong arguments in its favor. There is something intellectually satisfying about insisting on the original meaning of a word. My horticulturist husband positively froths when someone talks about a “ponytail palm,” for example. It’s a ponytail plant or a ponytail tree – not a palm at all. (Actually it’s a member of the lily family.)

Often when the meaning of a word changes, we get the feeling that the language is deteriorating – and sometimes that’s true. For example, disinterested (“impartial”) is gradually merging with uninterested (“not caring”). That means we’re losing a useful word from the language.

The same thing is happening to  notoriety (“having a bad reputation”), which is gradually merging with fame (“renown”). Soon we’ll have no word to signify that someone is famous for the wrong reasons.

So why are the meanings of words allowed to change? Because sometimes people really like the new meanings. One useful is example is dingbat, which used to be slang for “money” or “tramp.” Printers also use dingbat to refer to a printing ornament.

But in 1982 the meaning changed forever because Archie Bunker started calling his wife a dingbat. Does anyone seriously want to argue that we’re all going to go back to the old meanings of dingbat? Ain’t gonna happen, folks.

While I was drinking yesterday’s egg cream, I started to think about some changing words that showed up in Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie article Most Common Formal Grammatical Errors Committed by Authors. (A few days ago I posted some comments about what he’d written.) Onwuegbuzie is worried that academic writers are straying from the traditional meaning of words like since, while, may, and might.

Since and while – to his way of thinking – are time-related words. So these usages are prohibited:

Since we’re going to be away next week, let’s ask Joan to pick up our mail. (Since means “because” here)

While Seventh-Day Adventists observe Saturday as the Sabbath, most Christians go to church on Sunday.  (While means “although” here)

And Ongwuegbuzie wants to use may only in the sense of permission. So this usage is prohibited:

We may go for a nature walk right after breakfast tomorrow.  (May is similar to “might” here)

If you check a recent dictionary, however, you will find that all these usages are perfectly acceptable today. A purist might not be happy about this state of affairs – but there’s no stopping it. Language belongs to all of us, and we are the ones who make the changes. Feel the power!

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         Egg Cream

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Instant Quiz ANSWER

Often (but not always), you should separate two adjectives with a comma.

We were glad to plop in front of the TV after a long, tiring day. CORRECT

What Your English Teacher Didn’t Tell You is available in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

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“A useful resource for both students and professionals” – Jena L. Hawk, Ph.D., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

“Personable and readable…Jean knows her subject forwards and backwards.” – Adair Lara, author of Hold Me Close, Let Me Go

Instant Quiz

[image error]Instant Quiz 

Can you spot the error in the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.

Gwen’s successful book prompted many TV appearances, and she’s enjoying the notoriety.