Two Weeks in France, Part One: Paris

Paris is known as the “City of Light.” This is because Paris was a center of education/ideas and also because the city used gas lamps to brilliantly light the famous Champs-Elysées, a long avenue (1.25 miles) of upscale shops and monuments which stretches from Place de la Concorde to the Arc De Triomphe. My recent visit to France was highlighted by spending some time in Paris and experiencing as much of the “City of Light” as our time there allowed.

I traveled with my husband and two college friends, and being this was their first visit to France (but my fourth), we chose to see many of the most famous sights and tried to get the full Parisian experience through spending some time with locals and selecting neighborhood restaurants. Our daughter Julie lives in Paris, so she and her boyfriend (who speaks excellent English) were our guides in the wine shops and our menu translators at the restaurants, though many had English menus. Late afternoons we would gather at our hotel for a cocktail hour and open a bottle or two of good quality, but well-priced wine. Julie brought wine glasses, wine, and chocolate, and our friends bought cheese, crackers, and macaroons to round out our little soiree.

After, we would head to one of the many brasseries for a dinner of French specialties. I have always loved escargot (snails), but I have never had them like they are prepared in France – excellente! Duck, chicken, and traditional cassoulet (white beans and pork) were among the expertly prepared dishes available to us. We feasted on risotto with fresh champignon (mushrooms) and cheese, and we enjoyed croissants and other pastries that were extraordinary.

Julie had us all over to her apartment for an hors-d’oeuvres dinner one night with her friends Philippe and Lorian. She made many scrumptious canapes and had five or six kinds of French cheeses to sample. New bottles of wine kept appearing so that the glasses were never empty. Philippe is an intriguing person; he does not speak English, but that certainly didn’t stop him from chatting through the evening. He and my husband had a boisterous contest in Backgammon, and later he spent quite a bit of time demonstrating how he had won his many ping pong tournaments. Lorian translated and was a second to Philippe’s animated pantomime.

Of course, we visited many famous attractions: Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Palace at Versailles, and the Eiffel Tower. Teeming crowds were the mark of all of these venues, but to experience in person what you’ve only seen in pictures is worth the effort. We did find that buying tickets in advance that moved your group to the front of the line was a real bonus.

Sometimes we had a guide (Notre Dame, see picture at left), which was most helpful in learning about the history of a location as well as a source of answers for our many questions. Sometimes we rented headsets that lead us on a tour of a facility (the Louvre, see the picture below) on our own. While you can go all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower, stops at the first and second levels allow you to walk all around and get an exquisite 360° view of the city. Versailles probably had the biggest crowds, so our daughter recommends the Palace at Fontainebleau for our next visit as the masses don’t even come close to matching those at Versailles.

There are so many other galleries in Paris that are all worth visiting such as the Musee (museum) d’Orsay or Musee Rodin; we know we can visit Julie many times without running out of things to see and do. One night we took a cruise on the River Seine. The boat had headsets, and it was an informative lesson in architecture. The upper deck was the place to be, but again it was so crowded that not all of us could get up there. After the cruise, we did a nighttime bus tour of the City of Light and a late-night dinner at an elegant restaurant near the Place de la Concorde.

How do you get around Paris? The Metro (subway) was very convenient to our hotel and reasonably simple to figure out. We tried buses (buses and the Metro use the same tickets) and had good experiences there, too. Paris has taxis and Über, but unless you have a working phone in Paris, calling for a cab isn’t always convenient.

When is the best time to visit Paris and its many delights? Each season has its own claim to fame, but the fall finds good weather with fewer crowds according to a couple of sources I read. We will look forward to returning in all seasons and seeing the many wonders that Paris has to offer.

Diane Repass is a retired tenured assistant professor
from The University of Dubuque and now a beloved
writer for Plaid Swan Inc. She received her M.A. from
The University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

May 14, 2018

Snappy Starts

My father was a fiery preacher and a great speaker. His sermons kept even the sleepiest of parishioners at attention with his intermittent thunder. He used life examples to illustrate his message, and he usually captured attention with his first few sentences. The opening to a speech or an essay is critical to people’s tuning into the rest of the presentation. An introduction serves several functions such as stating your purpose, reviewing main points, and establishing credibility, but grabbing attention in the first few lines is essential to carrying interest through to the end of your message.

There are many ways to create interest, but there are some pitfalls that actually do just the opposite.

The choice of attention-getters must be relevant to your topic. To start with a story about your dog being chased by a goat when you want to persuade someone to vote for a certain candidate lacks a clear link in subject matter. The opener should lead to the main topic.
Considering your audience and their tastes should also be part of the plan. Offending people in the first few sentences guarantees that minds have dismissed any important message you wanted to share. Writing for an audience of teetotalers about the wonders of alcohol won’t put you on their list of most admired folks.
Ethics enter into the foray, too. If you state something as a fact, it should be true; be careful – the internet, the news, and, yes, even some politicians make startling claims that are not based in fact.

Snappy starts come in all kinds of shapes.

Startling statements are a good way to begin because they often run contrary to what people already know leaving a curiosity that needs to be fed.

In 2016, 2600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer. That is 1 in 1000 men. Most people think that breast cancer is only found in women, but even though it is rare, men can also be affected by this dreaded disease.

Stories can be factual or hypothetical. They can be personal, and they can be humorous.

When I was a little girl my older brother brought home from work a Look magazine that featured the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. There were pictures of hangings and violence that had a profound influence on me. Every night I would pack in all my largest stuffed animals around me in bed to protect me in case the Russians were to come to my house. Children are very impressionable, and parents should take care to monitor their exposure.

Questions can trigger some thought processes that lead the audience to want more from the speaker or writer. They can require a response or be rhetorical where no answer is expected. Everyone has heard the zealous salesperson on the TV ads – “Are you too pooped to participate?” “Do you have a hideous rash?” If the question fits, then the audience will listen to find a solution to their horrible problem. The same is true with questions in your writing or speech; a provocative question can be very effective.

How many of you have been instructed on the full meaning of sexual assault? How many of you know someone who is a victim of sexual assault?

Well-chosen quotations can be found online or in a large number of helpful reference works.

To wrap up…

Albert Einstein once said, “The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” Climate change came about with very little examined thought, but to treat the problem will require complex planning and universal cooperation.

A creative beginning buys additional, on-going attention. This is not the definitive list of snappy starts, but an innovative effort will pay off in a positive audience response.

April 16, 2018

Phrases That Have Outlived Their Original Meanings

Every language has its special phrases that no longer make sense if you look at the exact meanings of the words. Together such words and phrases have unique meanings which often find their roots in history. “Extend the olive branch” means to make peace with someone. The origin of this phrase is biblical, probably from the time of Noah where a dove delivered an olive branch to Noah to signal that God was no longer angry with His people, so the flood waters receded. “To know the ropes” means that someone is experienced at something, and it comes from the days of tall sailing ships where it was essential that the sailors knew how to handle a ship’s ropes and sails. Language is in a constant state of flux, but some expressions have staying power even when their references have disappeared from common use. Here are ten of my favorites that use references that have disappeared in my lifetime.

Carbon copy: We still use this phrase to mean that something is a duplicate of something else, as in,
“He is a carbon copy of his father.” Many young people don’t know what carbon paper is. I had a job once where I had to prepare address labels from a long mailing list, so I would put carbon paper in between my perforated address label forms and type up to four copies at a time (yes, the typewriter was electric). Today this phrase is still referenced in email forms on your computer. If you want to send a copy of your email to someone, you click on “CC,” which means carbon copy.

Roll the window down: Today we lower the car window, but we still say, “roll the window down.” I’m sure some young people have only known electric car windows, but it used to be that there was a handle that the rider would rotate manually to lower the window. I did read that some car manufacturers still build cars with manual windows, but it has been a while since I’ve operated one.

I’m going to tape it: This means that you are going to record something digitally. However, we don’t actually “tape” anything anymore, not since we had analog VCRs (video cassette recorders) or audio cassette recorders and magnetic tape. I admit that even though we use a Tivo (digital video recorder), I still use this phrase—but then we still own a VCR . . .

Rewind: This word is connected to the old VCR tapes and cassette tapes; today it means to go back in time and do something over again. For example, someone might say, “I wish I could rewind and do that day over again.” To return to an earlier moment on a tape, you pressed a rewind button.

Sounds like a broken record: When someone says something repeatedly, we say that he/she sounds like a broken record. There are still collectors of vinyl records, and record players have made a resurgence, but some people will not remember that when a record had a deep scratch on it, the needle would settle into a groove and play the same phrase of music over and over.

Hang up the phone: Many use this phrase to indicate that you should end the connection on your phone call. Now, we push a button to end the call, but early phones were boxes on the wall with a cord to the handset. Thus you hung the handset on the wall box. Of course, now we use cell phones or cordless phones, so there is nothing to hang up.

Dial that number: To make a phone call on old desk phones, you had to spin a dial to enter the number. This phrase is still used though now we tap the numbers on a keypad on cordless phones or the screen of a cell phone.

That’s a Kodak moment: A Kodak moment is the right time to take a perfect picture. With the arrival of digital cameras and now quality pictures from the camera on your cell phone, Kodak cameras and film have become obsolete. The Kodak company is still in business, has retooled itself, and now offers this description of its services:

Kodak is a technology company focused on imaging. We provide—directly and through partnerships—innovative hardware, software, consumables, and services.

Been through the wringer: When someone has gone through a distressing and difficult time, they have been through the wringer. The first washing machines didn’t have a spin cycle to wring out the excess water. Instead, there was a manual step in the washing process: putting the clothes through a wringer which squeezed the water out. You definitely didn’t want your hand to go through the wringer.

Don’t touch that dial: This means, “Don’t change the channel.” TV tuners used to be dials; there were two dials—one for VHF for the lower channels and one for UHF for higher channels, which our TV never received. To change the channel, you had to get up and go to the TV dial—no remote controls.

April 2, 2018

Let’s Get Picky: the Em Dash, the En Dash, and the Hyphen

My teacher in ninth grade English, Mrs. Wood, was picky. The first written assignment I turned in to her was returned to me with a low grade because I had not used 66s and 99s for my quotation marks (when you type in a word processing program, notice the opening and closing quote symbols – they’re like little 66s and 99s). Because we do not handwrite much anymore, that rule isn’t so important to know because the computer does the work for you. However, other similar rules that may seem picky are good to know. One such rule concerns the two types of dashes and the hyphen. I admit that I haven’t been meticulous about the distinctions among the three, but knowing the differences can aid in reader comprehension.

The Em Dash

The em dash is so labeled because it is the largest of the three and is the width of the letter m. Sources disagree about whether there should be a space before and after this dash, so refer to your style manual of choice (such as AP Style, APA Style, MLA Style, or Chicago Style). Most sources suggest that there be no extra space before or after. Em dashes are used in place of commas, parentheses, colons, and sometimes even semi-colons. These dashes emphasize a word, phrase, or clause but are also less formal than other punctuation. A writer should limit their use to a maximum of two in a sentence to prevent confusion. They are particularly handy when the phrase that is being highlighted already has commas in it:

Raising a dog requires three things—nourishment, exercise, and love.

Em dashes often indicate a change in topic or thought or add extra information to a sentence:

My brother—a computer genius—decided to be a clergyman.

Numerous methods on a computer keyboard can create this longer dash. First, and the easiest, is just to type two hyphens; the computer will automatically convert the two hyphens into an em dash. Also, you can hold the Alt key and type 0151 on the numeric keypad. You cannot use the numbers on the top row of your keyboard to do this. The next option—if you are using Microsoft Word—is to use the Insert tab at the top of the page, click on the Symbol option in the banner, choose the subset General Punctuation, and click on the em dash symbol. Finally, if you are using a Mac, press Shift-Option and the minus key to use this dash.

The En Dash

This dash is named because it is the width of the letter n and half the width of an em dash. Many people just use a hyphen rather than an en dash because no key on the keyboard easily creates it. Generally, it replaces the word to, expressing a relationship or an inclusive range of values:

Pages 2–25

September 3–October 29

The en dash also can replace the word versus:

The Clinton–Trump debates

Insert it like the em dash by choosing the appropriate symbol from the Symbol charts. Also, similar to the em dash, you can hold the Alt key while typing 0150 on the numeric keypad only.

The Hyphen

Hyphens are the smallest of these three punctuation marks. The hyphen key is on the bottom of a key in the top row of your keyboard between the 0 and =. Hyphenation can be a little tricky and will be the topic of a future blog, but to simplify, know that a hyphen is most used for some compound words such as well-being or off-campus. If you are unsure whether to use a hyphen, look the words up in a dictionary. Also, hyphens are used in numbers that are not inclusive, like Social Security numbers or telephone numbers.

There is one last symbol that might be confusing after all this talk of em and en dashes and hyphens. The minus sign for typesetters is the length of an en dash but thicker and higher. You cannot find the minus sign on most keyboards, so use a hyphen with a space on either side of it (133 – 49). For negative values (e.g., -32°), use a hyphen with one space before it but not after it.

The guidelines for em and en dashes and hyphens here described are in general but will serve well to differentiate among the three. Whether your Mrs. Wood is your teacher, your editor, or your typesetter, it’s not a bad idea to get a little picky and choose correctly.

March 12, 2018

Great Teachers Create Successful Leaders

It’s a worthwhile endeavor to reach back in time and remember teachers who made a difference in our lives. What was it about them that made them so memorable? What did they do that applies to the success of our own professional lives? Skilled educators use techniques that savvy professionals can emulate to train and to lead.

My first & life-long educator

I had four teachers whom I remember fondly who created a love of language and writing for me. My first teacher and the best teacher I ever had was my mother. She was so smart; she was the salutatorian of her high school class and was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend one year of college to obtain a teaching certificate. She was always available if I needed help with my studies, but teaching the English language was her forte and love. I remember when the topic of word syllables came up in my early education; it just wasn’t sinking in. She sat down with me, and in a short time, I understood the subject well. She knew grammar and was always my best resource when I had questions. She had infinite patience and the ability to break down a topic into easily understood modules.

Grade school memories

My favorite grade school teacher was Miss Natzke. I was fortunate to have had her as a teacher for first and third grades. In the small parochial school that I attended, teachers would often teach two grades at once. Half of the second grade class was in my first grade classroom. After that year, Miss Natzke moved up a rung and taught the other half of second grade and all of third grade. She had her hands full, but the trait that I remember most about her was her compassion. She cared deeply about each student and found time to address the needs of everyone. She gave me a strong educational foundation, and I discovered a love for learning in those two years with Miss Natzke.

High school inspiration

In high school, I met Mrs. Brown in tenth grade English. Her focus was writing, and I learned so much from her. She challenged me at the same time that she inspired me. I loved writing for her even though I was not at the top of the class and recognized that I had much to learn. My essays were not covered with red ink because she knew that the best way to effect change was to zero in on the most critical items that could be improved. She also was collaborative. One time she asked if anyone in the class would like to create bulletin boards about English topics. I loved the creative aspect of that idea and volunteered. I had to study a topic and condense it into small, meaningful messages that could be displayed. It meant staying after school in her classroom to put up the bulletin boards, and I enjoyed getting to know her as a genuinely good person as well as an effective teacher.

College challenges

Finally, in college, I was lucky to have had several very influential teachers, but the top was Miss Moehl. As an English major, I took quite a few classes from her. I had the utmost respect for her even though she was a tough teacher and demanded the best from her students. I didn’t always get A’s from her, but I learned so much. One particularly challenging class was Transformational-Generative Grammar, which she creatively taught making a difficult (and, yes, slightly dry) topic interesting. She demanded interaction in her classes, but with her leadership, staying on task was rewarding. I was well-prepared for some of the difficult linguistics classes I took in graduate school. I had the good fortune to be selected to be her assistant my senior year. I read all of her freshman class essays, adding comments in pencil in the margins. She also read all of these essays and was helpful in critiquing my evaluations, an excellent preparation for my years as a teacher. She had practical suggestions such as writing comments in pencil so that the red marks would not overwhelm students. She recommended I limit suggestions to the most pertinent and most glaring flaws. I learned much about what made a great teacher from Miss Moehl, and we corresponded for several decades after my graduation.

Beyond the classroom

So, how does all this apply to a person’s professional life? “The Best Leaders Are Great Teachers,” is the title of an article by Sydney Finkelstein writing for the Harvard Business Review in the January-February 2018 issue. The qualities and skills that you might have recognized and admired in your teachers are the same qualities and skills that a successful business leader needs. Being able to break down a topic into manageable segments is as valid for the classroom teacher as it is for a supervisor or leader. While being empathetic is a good trait, showing compassion is even more critical when working with students as well as employees. Creating a passion for growing and learning works with people at all levels. And, finally, working together, or being collaborative, serves to inspire and to create respect and efficiency.

Writing this has been a wonderful exercise for me to revisit the memories of some of the people who made the most difference in my life and whose traits I tried to emulate in my professional life.

February 26, 2018

Fun with Words

Famed comedian Groucho Marx in his 1933 film Duck Soup said, “I’ve got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it” (attributed to writer Bert Kalmar). The Marx Brothers were renowned for their wordplay. Some call it recreational linguistics, having fun with the language; others call it logology, but creative play with words is the hallmark of many inventive comedians and writers. Let’s look at some words that aren’t in every dictionary that pinpoint some ways to have fun with words.

Wellerisms: Tom Swifties and Croakers

Sam Weller is a character from Charles Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers (written in installments in 1836 to 1837). He would use a well-known quotation and follow it with a facetious sequel, for example, “’It all comes back to me now,’ the Captain said as he spat into the wind,” or “’Eureka!’ Archimedes said to the skunk.” A type of Wellerism is a Tom Swifty, named after Tom Swift, a character in a popular series of books written in the early 1900s by Edward L. Stratemeyer under the pseudonym Victor Appleton. Swifties are quotes attributed to Tom Swift plus a descriptive adverb: “’I know not which groceries to purchase,’ Tom said listlessly,” or “’I have no flowers,’ Tom said lackadaisically” (examples from Wikipedia). Similar to a Tom Swifty is a Croaker, where instead of an adverb that adds the pun or humor, it is the verb that adds the humor: “’I plan to renew my membership,’ Tom rejoined,” or “’I have to sweep up now,’ the custodian maintained.” (Tom Swifty [Word Play]) The invention of croakers is attributed to writer Roy Bongartz.

Paronomasia

Paronomasia is a fancy word for puns. Examples of puns go far back in history to the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Romans. There are several types of puns, such as homophones or homographs. Homophones are words that are spelled differently but sound the same, such as pour and pore. In Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest, he uses the homophones earnest and Ernest, the name of two characters. William Shakespeare is known for his homophonic puns, such as this conversation from Romeo and Juliet:

Mercutio: Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.

Romeo: Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes with nimble soles; I have a soul of lead . . . So stakes me to the ground I cannot move . . .

Homographs are words that are spelled the same but may have a different origin, meaning, or pronunciation, such as skip (to jump) and skip (to miss out). Here’s an example of a homographic pun: A dog having puppies on the sidewalk is considered to be littering.

Malaphors

The term malaphor is attributed to Lawrence Harrison who wrote about it in a Washington Post article. It is a combination of the words malapropism and metaphor in which two figures of speech are merged creating a humorous result. Some well-known figures have uttered malaphors unintentionally:

Harris Faulkner, FOX news anchor: “That issue always seems to get kicked down the can.” (kick the can down the road + kick in the can, referring to Congress and the budget)
Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader: “They are kicking the can down the table.” (kick the can down the road + come to the table, talking about stopping the government shutdown)
Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist: referring to Ivanka Trump, “She is dumb as a brick.” (thick as a brick + dumb as a rock) (Malaphors)

Chiasmus

“Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you” (Chiasmus). Here, the second half of the sentence is an inverted form of the first half. One famous chiasmus comes from former President John Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” Another familiar example comes from Star-Kist tuna: “Star-Kist doesn’t want tuna with good taste, Star-Kist wants tuna that tastes good.” We can find examples in history; Socrates (5^th century B.C.) said, “Bad men live that they may eat or drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.”

Many other types of verbal play are equally as fun to read about, such as feghoot, double entendre, and rhopalic. Some make you groan, some make you laugh, and some test your wit. Are you clever at turning a witty phrase, or are you best at being an appreciative audience?

February 12, 2018

Book Series for a Cold Winter’s Night Read

In the last few years, I have become taken by several book series. I keep checking for the release dates on new additions to each series and shamelessly buy the hardcover edition instead of patiently waiting for the paperbacks to be published. It is easy to be captured by eccentric characters who come to life on the pages of a book, and it is even easier to look forward to rejoining these new friends in every installment that is released. Three series that have really captured my interest are Chief Inspector Gamache Novels by Louise Penny, Maisie Dobbs Novels by Jacqueline Winspear, and Maggie Hope Mysteries by Susan Elia MacNeal. While each novel can be stand-alone, it is best to read each series in order of publication; I have chosen one book from each as an example of what to expect.

Chief Inspector Gamache Novels by Louise Penny:
The Beautiful Mystery, 2012, #9 in a series of 14

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is from the Sûreté du Québec, the Quebec, Canada, Provincial Police. He is happily married to Reine-Marie and has two adult children. Many of these novels are set in a little village named Three Pines, though this one is set at a monastery, Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, at a very remote location. Usually, Gamache works with a larger team, but in this novel, only Jean-Guy Beauvoir, who is secretly seeing Gamache’s daughter, accompanies him to investigate a murder. Frere Mathieu, the choirmaster, has been found dead in a garden to which very few have access. The monastery only has 24 brothers, and they take a vow of silence, except to sing their beautiful ancient chants. They have historically been called The Beautiful Mystery because the music and the voices are so mysteriously breathtaking. The Abbot, Dom Philippe, has lifted the vow of silence while Gamache and Beauvoir are investigating. It seems impossible that one of these devout men could commit murder, but because the brothers are the only ones allowed in the secluded, heavily locked monastery, the murderer must be among them. What the investigators find behind the monastery walls is far more discord than they expected. Some years earlier the monks had decided to make a recording of their chants to sell to generate some income for repairs to their building. The project was a huge success, but not everyone supported the decision to extend themselves beyond the confines of their monastery. This conflict and others make for an intriguing investigation that once again is solved by Chief Inspector Gamache.

Maisie Dobbs Novels by Jacqueline Winspear:
In This Grave Hour, 2017, #13 in a series of 14

Maisie Dobbs is a woman before her time. She is smart, independent, and determined. She is an investigator and psychologist, running her own agency in London with the help of her longtime friend and associate, Eddie. Maisie was a nurse in World War I, and, like Eddie, still nurses the physical and psychological injuries suffered in such a devastating war. The series starts shortly after WWI and runs into World War II, where Maisie uses her intelligence and experience to counter events taking place in Europe. In this novel, just as war is being declared, a Belgian refugee from the Great War (WWI) has been murdered. When Maisie arrives home one night, she finds a British senior Secret Service agent in her apartment who wants Maisie to take on the investigation of this murder. As she investigates, more killings of Belgian refugees take place. Simultaneously, Maisie visits her family home to see her father, Frankie. He works at a large estate where the Lord and Lady of the house have agreed to take in children escaping the ravages of war on the continent. The family has taken in a young girl who will not speak; all they know about her is that her name is Anna. So, Maisie is charged with trying to work with the little girl and discover something about her past at the same time she investigates the murder.

Maggie Hope Mysteries by Susan Elia MacNeal:
The Paris Spy, 2017, #7 in a series of 8

The heroine in this series has come back to England and her roots after growing up in the United States. She is a brilliant mathematics graduate looking for a job in London. Despite her high intelligence, she can only find a job as a typist for the Prime Minister in 1940. Opportunities present themselves, and she proves her worth by breaking codes. She trains as a spy and becomes renowned for her abilities in the field. In The Paris Spy, she is secretly sent to German-occupied Paris with a mission to find a missing operative, Erica Calvert, but Hope has a secondary purpose in mind: to find her half-sister Elise, who escaped from a German prison camp. Calvert has been doing research which is vital to the Allies’ plan to invade Normandy. With Nazi officers swarming the city, Hope poses as a socialite and intermixes with her French contacts and the Germans to find Calvert and her vital research.

January 29, 2018

Tune Your Tone

“Good job.” These two words can be said in so many ways that completely change their meaning. Imagine someone saying them with enthusiasm so that they are a sincere compliment. Or, they could be sarcastic or accusatory so that the spoken meaning is inescapably altered. Body language, inflection, eye contact affect how the purpose is perceived. In written work, the reader doesn’t have all these clues to determine intended meaning, so the writer has to create a tone through word choice, level of formality, and syntax to clarify the meaning.

Tone in writing is the writer’s attitude toward a subject and the audience. Just like voice inflection changes the meaning of the spoken word, tone affects how the written message will be received. Many words describe the tone of written work: friendly, critical, appreciative, defiant. To create the appropriate tone, the writer should ask him/herself a few fundamental questions:

What is my purpose in writing this?
Who is going to read this? Am I writing to my employer or a fellow employee? Is my audience a general one or a professional group?
What is it that I want my reader to learn from this?
Based on these questions, what tone should I be using? Am I matching the tone to the capabilities of my audience? Am I matching the tone to a specific type of publication (letter, college essay, professional journal, blog)?

Once a writer has determined the tone, the real work begins. The writer should be concerned with word choice. An important consideration should be denotations (dictionary definitions) and connotations (feelings associated with the word). Think about the meanings of the words “thin” and “skinny.” They are similar in meaning, but being thin is a goal of many people, which has a positive connotation, while being skinny has a slightly more negative, undesirable connotation.

Two other choices for words include choosing specific over general words and concrete over abstract words. For example, the word “illness” is a general term, but “stage-four cancer” carries more meaning and heightens sympathy and concern. “Freedom” is an abstract term, but there are so many kinds of freedom, and choosing a more concrete expression, like, “freedom of religion,” can shape the tone. Choosing to use jargon (language that is used by a specific group) can also affect tone depending on the audience. To choose legal jargon or technical jargon for an audience not familiar with the meanings alters the tone completely.

The level of formality is another contributing factor. Formality works on a continuum from informal to formal. Informal language is more personal than formal. It uses slang, contractions, and first or second person (I or you). It is more subjective (deals with opinions and feelings), and it more approximates spoken language. Formal language is more scholarly and professional, and it is more objective. Many readers find it difficult to read, and so writers often choose a medium level of formality to make it palatable to more readers. Longer words and words with Greek and Latin roots are more typical of formal language. For example, these words mean the same thing, but one is more formal than the other:

Formal Informal

Terminate End

Locate Find

Initiate Begin

Establish Set up

Commence Start

Syntax, the way words are organized into sentences, is the third way that tone is conveyed. Active voice (I ate the chicken) vs. passive voice (the chicken was eaten [by me – optional]) rearranges the subject and object in a sentence depending on which is the more important actor or focus of the sentence. While most writing guides discourage the use of the passive voice, it can be more authoritative (the building will be closed at 8:00 p.m. sharp) or more tactful. Another way of using syntax to add to tone is to consider emphasis and subordination. When a writer wants to emphasize a point, he or she will use shorter, more concise sentences. In contrast, to subordinate a point, place it in a compound sentence.

Consider these examples:

Emphasis: Smoking will no longer be permitted in the building. The committee on employee health and safety reached this decision after considering evidence from researchers and physicians on the dangers of second-hand smoke.

Subordination: The committee on employee health and safety has finished considering evidence, and they have reached the decision that smoking will no longer be permitted in the building. (Purdue OWL: Tone in Business Writing)

Finally, a writer can incorporate these suggestions for perfecting the desired tone of a piece.

Use a more neutral tone for negative topics. Take time to become calmer if you’re too angry, and have someone else critique your writing for a tone that is too negative or subjective.
Be sure to give your readers a purpose for reading your work. This creates an incentive to make your reader want to continue reading.
Don’t mix tones and read your work aloud or have someone read it to you to listen for consistency.
Edit, edit, edit.

January 15, 2018

The Ever-Morphing English Language

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) was a philosopher, astronomer, bureaucrat, courtier, and diplomat, but he is best remembered today as the author of The Canterbury Tales. For most, his work would not be easy to read as in this example from The Summoner’s Tale:

Freres and feendes been but lyte asonder. (Friars and fiends are seldom far apart.)

English, as with all languages, is in a constant state of change in five principal areas: vocabulary, spelling, definition, pronunciation, and word order or sentence structure. Understanding the causes of these changes can help to recognize language shifts which affect the way we communicate.

Our language is evolving.

Vocabulary is rapidly changing. We need new words to describe technology (buffer, digitize) and products (jeggings). Words like unfriend and tweet weren’t used in the same way fifteen years ago as they are today. Jargon, such as in business (micromanage), and slang (woke – being aware, specifically about current events and cultural issues) introduce many new words.

Spelling has changed most notably over a more extended period. In the 13^th to 16^th centuries, the word doubt was spelled dout, and connection was spelled connexion in the 17^th to mid-20^th centuries. Today’s misspellings may well predict spelling changes of the future, such as in curiosity (misspelling – curiousity) or gist (misspelling – jist).

Enter: Slang Words

We are seeing word definitions change today, especially in slang usage. For example, wicked used to mean something evil, but now it can mean something good. Meat in Old English used to signify solid food, but now it refers to the flesh of animals. Egregious used to mean something remarkably good, but it has changed to indicate something terrible or shocking, possibly due to an ironic use of the word.

Pronunciation shifts are not as easy to identify over the last few years, but looking back about 500 years, we recognize the Great Vowel Shift where about seven significant changes in vowel pronunciation occurred, principally in the long vowels. Many words have had a pronunciation shift over the last few hundred years. Cognizance used to be pronounced without the “g,” and tomb was pronounced with the “b.” Sometimes word sounds get switched around as in wasp (previously waps) or bird (previously brid).

Even sentence structure is changing.

The last central area of change is in word order and sentence structure. In the past, the word not was placed after the verb as in “She likes me not.” Today that sentence would be “She doesn’t like me.” However, a recent change puts a pause into the old order of words and puts the word not at the end again as in “She likes me – NOT!”, a sarcastic comment. If you look at the writings of Chaucer and Shakespeare, you’ll see many odd (for today) arrangements of words. Shakespeare, in particular, liked to play with the order of words, so instead of the usual subject-verb-object order, he would mix things up.

Why all the changes?

The causes of language change are several. Recently, I heard White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders say “gonna” repeatedly in a press conference. I don’t doubt that soon, “gonna” will be an acceptable spoken and written word, replacing “going to.” There is a need for efficiency in language, and people take shortcuts frequently, as in dropping the “g” sound from many “-ing” words or substituting “a” for the words have or to in words like coulda, shoulda, wanna, etc.

Borrowing words from other languages is common. For example, English has borrowed the words emoji, sushi, and honcho from Japanese. Environment affects language; things like invasions, colonization, and migration bring change. Rules that are difficult to remember cause change. For example, lie vs. lay and who vs. whom are so difficult that the usage rules may change. There still is a rule about not splitting an infinitive (e.g. putting an adverb between the infinitive to and its verb as in “to thoroughly disagree”), but it seems archaic because it came from a time when people wanted English to be more like Latin, where it’s impossible to split its single word infinitives.

There are countries such as France and Malaysia which have language academies to prescribe how the language should be. Even they have to acknowledge some change because language change is inevitable. Perhaps a better way to look at such changes is that they are invigorating; people are looking for new and better ways to express themselves. Recognizing and accepting that language is in flux can aid in efforts to communicate most effectively and efficiently.

January 2, 2018

Writing Concisely – Part Two

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do,” (Thomas Jefferson). William Shakespeare, William Strunk, Mark Twain and countless other notable authors have all weighed in on the topic of polishing your writing with concision. In Part One of this article, we looked at choosing words carefully, cutting out excess words, avoiding redundancy, and using affirmative language. Additional tips for writing concisely include more ways for picking words carefully (e.g. avoiding overused prepositions, forms of “to be” and passive verbs, and “there is/are”) and deleting excess words (such as eliminating unnecessary adverbs and reducing clauses to phrases and phrases to single words).

Choosing Words Carefully

Overusing Prepositional Phrases

Profuse use of prepositional phrases can make sentences awkward and unclear. The best solution is to reword the sentence.

Original: Professor, the reason for my absence from class yesterday is because at noon my mother called and talked for two hours about how things were going at home.

Revised: Professor, I was absent yesterday because my mother called.

Avoiding Forms of “to be” and Passive Verbs

The infinitive phrase “to be” is unnecessary in some sentences.

Original: She seems to be happy.

Revised: She seems happy.

Passive voice either deletes the subject of a sentence or moves it to a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence, uses a form of “to be” with the past participle verb, and moves the direct object to the subject of the sentence.

Active: Jane (subject) ate (active verb) all my Christmas cookies (direct object).

Passive: All my Christmas cookies (new subject) were eaten (passive verb) by Jane (former subject).

Passive verbs are wordy and less robust than active verbs. While some writers don’t ever use passive verbs, they can work well when the subject of the sentence is unimportant, and the receiver of the action is the most important.

Active: Someone (subject) discarded (active verb) these old photos (direct object).

Passive: These old photos (new subject) were discarded (passive verb). (The subject “someone” is unimportant.)

Avoiding Expletives

Sentences that begin with the expletives “there is/are” or “it is” are wordy and weak.

Original: There are hundreds of women who are coming forward to expose the men who have sexually assaulted them. It is they who are making a difference in what is acceptable behavior of men towards women.

Revised: Hundreds of women are coming forward to expose the men who have sexually assaulted them. They are making a difference in establishing acceptable behavior of men towards women.

Rewrite sentences to avoid expletive construction.

Chopping Excess Words

Eliminating Unnecessary Adverbs

Some writers avoid adverbs; using them in moderation or replacing them with more descriptive phrases is the best practice. Shun the weakest of adverbs: actually, basically, definitely, extremely, kind of, quite, really, somewhat, very.

Original: He definitely won’t come uninvited to your party.

Revised: He won’t come uninvited to your party.

Reducing Clauses to Phrases and Phrases to Single Words

Wordy clauses and phrases can often be reduced to simpler phrases or single words. For example, the word “which” is sometimes unneeded.

Original: My house, which is a two-story home, was built in 2010.

Revised: My two-story house was built in 2010.

Original: Thinking about her next meal, my dog Cricket looked up at me with woeful eyes.

Revised: Cricket, my hungry dog, looked up at me with woeful eyes.

William Strunk Jr. in his manual, “Elements of Style,” sums up concise writing well:

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

123 4 5

There are many ways to create interest, but there are some pitfalls that actually do just the opposite.

Snappy starts come in all kinds of shapes.

To wrap up…

The Em Dash

The En Dash

The Hyphen

My first & life-long educator

Grade school memories

High school inspiration

College challenges

Beyond the classroom

Wellerisms: Tom Swifties and Croakers

Paronomasia

Malaphors

Chiasmus

Chief Inspector Gamache Novels by Louise Penny: The Beautiful Mystery, 2012, #9 in a series of 14

Maisie Dobbs Novels by Jacqueline Winspear: In This Grave Hour, 2017, #13 in a series of 14

Maggie Hope Mysteries by Susan Elia MacNeal: The Paris Spy, 2017, #7 in a series of 8

Our language is evolving.

Enter: Slang Words

Even sentence structure is changing.

Why all the changes?

Choosing Words Carefully

Overusing Prepositional Phrases

Avoiding Forms of “to be” and Passive Verbs

Avoiding Expletives

Chopping Excess Words

Eliminating Unnecessary Adverbs

Reducing Clauses to Phrases and Phrases to Single Words

Our Recent Blog Posts

Chief Inspector Gamache Novels by Louise Penny:
The Beautiful Mystery, 2012, #9 in a series of 14

Maisie Dobbs Novels by Jacqueline Winspear:
In This Grave Hour, 2017, #13 in a series of 14

Maggie Hope Mysteries by Susan Elia MacNeal:
The Paris Spy, 2017, #7 in a series of 8