| Letters: Acupuncture and Science (1 Letter) A letter to the editor. feeds.nytimes.com |
Scientists find drugs that may fight bat disease By MARILYNN MARCHIONE 2010-09-13T17:39:39ZBOSTON (AP) -- Scientists may have found some ways to help the nation's bats, which are being wiped out by a novel fungal disease.... hosted.ap.org |
BP’s New Chief, Not Formally in the Role, Is Already Realigning Senior Managers While Robert Dudley will not formally take over until Friday, he has already ousted Andy Inglis, the head of exploration and production. feeds.nytimes.com |
If the queen is the Queen, why is the pope not the Pope? And other questions | Mind your language Q&A The Guardian style guide editors answer readers' queries – first in a seriesWe receive a large number of questions about Guardian style and wider language issues. This is the first in an occasional series of Mind Your Language blogposts attempting to answer some of them.Big Society or big society?Simon Hoggart rightly described this phrase as "surely the vaguest slogan ever coined by a political leader. Nobody knows what it means." Until they do, keep it in quotation marks, at least the first time you mention it in a story, and always lowercase – so it's "big society".So it's "tea party" then?If you're talking about cucumber sandwiches, scones and a pot of Earl Grey. If, however, you are referring to the Tea Party movement, use initial caps. The reference is, of course, to the Boston Tea Party of 1773, which did involve tea (though not sandwiches and scones).Due to or owing to?If you can substitute "caused by", due to is correct; if you can substitute "because of", owing to is correct: The train's late arrival was due to leaves on the line; the train was late owing to leaves on the line. This rule is so simple that it is astonishing how rarely people (including those who write in the Guardian) get it right.Beyond the pale? Surely it should be beyond the pail (that's what I was always taught)I'm afraid your teachers were wrong. This pale is derived from the Latin palus, a stake as used to support a fence (cf palisade); hence the figurative meaning of beyond the pale as being outside the boundary, unacceptable.The pope, the Queen? They are both job titles, yet you capitalise the Queen but not the popeThere are lots of queens, and a risk of ambiguity (in a story about the Commonwealth, say) if we don't cap up the Queen. That said, plenty of Guardian readers think we should call the Queen "the queen" for political reasons. There is only one pope, just as there is only one archbishop of Canterbury. Capital letters are about communication, not status.I would like to request that you consider banning the use of "track record" (in favour of "record"). It drives me mad – it is lazy and cliched. I have got to the point where I stop reading an article if it's usedGood idea, now incorporated into the style guide. Thank you.A native of Luxembourg is a Luxembourger. In your sport section, cyclist Andy Schleck has been continually referred to as "the Luxembourgeois" and it's bugging me. Why?The sports department was following the style guide, which was wrong. It has now been corrected, with thanks to this reader.An article today uses the neologism "congregants". Is the Guardian so disastrously affected by the current economic crisis that it cannot afford to print the extra letters involved in "members of his congregation"?No. Point taken.Is "bouncebackability" a real word?Yes, it's an alternative to "the ability to bounce back" and is believed to have been coined by the football manager Iain Dowie. Thanks to @guardianstyle's followers on Twitter, it has been translated into French (la rebondissabilité) and German (die Rücksprungsfähigkeit).Hello! Having appeared in the Times last week I thought you may be interested in seeing my blog – thestylelocker.com. Similar to you I comment on all the must-have recommendations from the best of what's hip and stylishNot that similar to us, really. But we do like the trenchcoat.Post your questions and comments here, email them to guardian.style@guardian.co.uk, or tweet them to @guardianstyleLanguageDavid Marshguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Slither Room The writer and painter James Prosek travels to key eel haunts around the world, studying the mysterious fish and their decline. feeds.nytimes.com |