Remember these? Electronic databases are such an improvement. Except, of course, when they're not. You end up with this database over HERE and another one over THERE...and, sometimes, "database" is just a bunch of lists in different folders and applications. This set in Excel, and another couple of contact lists in Word and a bunch of data about people who purchased through your website's storefront. We have helped many clients tame this "list beast" and get a handle on who their contacts actually are. It's a necessary precursor to communicating with them effectively -- whether in the context of a monthly or quarterly newsletter, or cross-selling a subset of prospects a new service that is applicable to them, or sending reminder cards for recurring service or maintenance. Write and Polish helps clients get all of their information in one place, research contact management systems, if applicable, and establish procedures to keep it all current. Finally, we work with businesses to use this information to formulate campaigns that solidify client relationships and increase sales. Bottom line: people can't buy your services if they don't know about them or their benefits. Communication is the solution!
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We'll start with the primary jobs for which quotation marks are excellent: The obvious one is when presenting an exact quotation -- "To be or not to be," is one of the most famous lines ever written. When a quote falls within a quote, single marks are used for the inner statement -- He told her, "be careful, or I might have to go all, 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!'" In this context, quotation marks are used in writing dialogue. The trouble with quotation marks, as in the photographs here, comes with their use to indicate euphemism, irony or sarcasm. Instead of quotation marks, one could use words like "supposedly" or "so-called" -- as in, She was "feeling ill" and left early versus She was supposedly feeling ill, and left early You can appreciate the similarity, while the first one is probably a more effective statement of the dubiousness with which the speaker/writer views the claim of illness. Which brings us back to the problem at hand. We frequently encounter the clear error of using quotation marks to indicate emphasis -- often with slightly comedic (or disconcerting) results. We're not quite certain how this situation has grown to epidemic proportions, but it has. To emphasize a word or statement (often a rule, regulation or command), one has quite a few tools in the typographical arsenal: italics, boldface, underlining, ALL CAPITALS or ANY COMBINATION of the foregoing. So, there is no shortage of options. Re-purposing of quotation marks to create another one is not only wrong, it's unnecessary. Though the intended meaning in a statement containing errant quotation marks is understood, the essence result suggests the opposite. While conducting other business on the Internet, we came across a new subject for our Facebook rogues' gallery of language error and/or misuse. Click on the picture to see the details of the situation -- though the CliffNotes version is that Old Navy shipped and sold these shirts without a necessary apostrophe in "Let's Go!!" Retail goods and client-facing communication material need to be checked for these basic (and embarrassing) errors. Contact us to discuss your needs. Write and Polish recently completed the first phase of a website project for Milwaukee-area general contractor Barthenheier Construction. The website was designed by Catral Doyle Creative (located in Milwaukee's Third Ward), whose team also established an engaging logo and brand. Write and Polish then performed a complete revision of the content, and adjusted some minor elements of layout/style to better reflect the client's aesthetic. We will be continuing to work with Barthenheier to expand the case studies already presented to more fully reflect the scope of work undertaken, as well as to add new projects as they are completed. We are also working with them on other marketing and communications projects, including creation of an up-to-date relationship database and some "boilerplate" pieces that will allow for quicker and easier response to opportunities. 7/17/2012 0 Comments Word of the Day: EnnuiEnnui /ahnˈwee/noun 1. boredom; lack of interest. 2. a gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression. Word of the Day not only illustrates ennui well, they have selected an image that demonstrates the correct placement of apostrophes in this context! We received a punctuation 9-1-1 yesterday, asking whether or not to hyphenate the prefix "re-."Our answer was, basically, "It depends." The modern aesthetic tries to be a bit critical about when to hyphenate, so that there are not superfluous hyphens eating up real estate on our pages, nor stopping the eye in its course of reading. For the same reason that Write and Polish eschews the serial or "Oxford" comma as unnecessary, we appreciate this style trend. What it means, however, is that not every case is the same. Generally, attach prefixes (and suffixes) to their respective roots, as in nonprofit, semiconscious and multinational. Exceptions — use a hyphen when:
This set of exceptions is not exhaustive, but considers many of the cases that the average person will encounter. If a specific situation with which you've struggled is not addressed here, you may need to consult a dictionary or a style manual appropriate to your business or pursuit. You may also always contact us for clarification or to research a specific language challenge! * As it fell out, yesterday's query turned on that we were instructing someone to "retell a story." So, no hyphen! Insert a comma when providing additional information that is secondary to the main point of a sentence. In grammar-speak, that is using commas to separate the main clause from subordinate and/or certain relative clauses.Examples can make this clearer:
In each of the foregoing sentences, some useful detail is lost by dropping the subordinate clause (before the comma in the first sentence and after the comma in the second), but the meaning of the sentence isn't affected. In practice, this means that commas will usually follow certain introductory phrases at the beginning of a sentence, including indicators of time or sequence, place, extent, cause, degree or condition.
Relative clauses are ones that begin with ‘who,’ ‘which,’ ‘that,’ ‘whom,’ or ‘where.’ They can go either way. Apply the 'essential to meaning' test to see if you need to use commas or not. In this case, the phrase will be set off before and after with a pair of commas. For example:
Similarly, other "aside" phrases or comments (‘of course,’ ‘indeed,’ ‘i.e,’ ‘eg.,’ etc.) that can be considered optional are also set off with commas. 6/21/2012 0 Comments New Post to the 'Why the World Needs More Proofreaders' Album -- Education EditionEnjoy these new entries into our Proofreading Wanted collection at Facebook. We understand that mistakes happen. THAT'S why editing and proofreading are so important! Write and Polish has issued a press release on behalf of The Eye Centers of Racine and Kenosha, "Eye Centers of Racine and Kenosha Announce New Doctor." |
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