By Judy Vorfeld Time to look at three pairs of words that give many people problems. Criteria vs. Criterion “Criteria” is plural (like “phenomena”), while “criterion” is singular, like “phenomenon.” You have one criterion or many criteria. It’s easy to be confused, since some words (e.g., “data” […]
By Judy Vorfeld Recently someone asked, “Is it still proper to address a letter to a company as: DEAR SIR OR MADAM?” According to The Gregg Reference Manual, Tenth Edition, by William A. Sabin, if you don’t know the names of anyone in a large organization, but know there are both […]
Write Powerfully: Avoid Useless Words and Phrases By Judy Vorfeld “Reckless writers and slipshod speakers use many words where few would do,“says Owl Editing. “Yet for all the words, their expression is but impoverished; more words do not necessarily signify more meaning.” Do you publish a newsletter, have […]
By Judy Vorfeld The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (6.9), says, “Periods and commas precede closing quotation marks, whether double or single.” Examples: She said, “I’ll be there soon.” … “When you are finished,” he said, “we’ll leave.” CMS also states that there are several exceptions […]
By Judy Vorfeld Do you struggle through a maze of Internet words, acronyms, and phrases, wondering if you’ll ever learn enough to successfully operate your online business? Is your brain buzzing with thoughts of associate programs, e-commerce, conflicting statistics, just-in-time transactions, B2B, B2C, B2Whatever, and branding? A marketing […]
