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Posted on Sat, Feb. 21, 2009 10:15 PM
READERS’ REPRESENTATIVE
Style book lays down the law – readers don’t always agree
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“Why don’t you ever write about all the bad grammar in the newspaper?” asked a caller last week. “The Kansas City Star is a perfect example of how not to write English.”
Wow. That’s pretty strong stuff, but it’s actually one of the most common criticisms that I hear from readers. They pay close attention to suspect grammar, questionable word usage, errant spelling and all the other elements of Composition 101. It’s not at all unusual for me to find in my mail stack an envelope packed with clippings that have been heavily highlighted and circled, often with notes about mistakes scrawled in the margins.
And those readers are often right, at least to a point. Obviously, in questions of spelling there’s a right and a wrong way of doing things — except when the extreme flexibility of the English language allows multiple “correct” answers.
Take “traveling.” My check of The Star’s electronic library shows the paper has used the word well over 20,000 times since 1991. But I recall a reader a couple of years ago who pointed out one story that spelled it as “travelling.” Error!
Not so, according to Merriam-Webster, the official dictionary of the newsroom. There, as in every other dictionary I consulted, both “travelling” and “travelled” get the OK as alternative spellings. But the Associated Press style book says one l, not two, and the newsroom generally defers to that advice.
An editor shared an objection from a reader who balked at a recent mention of “the two Kansas Citys.” “Give me a break,” she said. “That should be ‘two Kansas Cities.’”
My own eyes bug out every time I read “Citys,” but The Star’s style book is clear: “Note the ys.” Kansas City is a proper noun in this case, so it shouldn’t be altered in the plural. That makes sense.
The list goes on. Adviser or advisor? The AP says –er. Colorblind is one word, not two. Know-how is hyphenated.
Sometimes, The Star overrules the AP. The paper uses “Qur’an,” which is the most common spelling of the Muslim holy book, though the AP’s style is “Quran.” During the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, The Star wrote of the “re-count,” as opposed to almost every other source’s “recount.” I thought that one was a very wise distinction, as “recount” normally means “to describe in detail.”
But back to the original question: Why don’t I write about these subjects more often? After all, they’re among the most frequent complaints.
Honestly, the reason is that very few of the “errors” I hear about are quite so cut and dried. Many of us remember strict rules from our English teachers, and I know lots of people are extremely erudite and have very strong preferences. As for myself, I can’t stand the word “anytime” used as an adverb, and I wish the semicolon required a license (issued by me, of course).
But English isn’t math. Most of the time, we’re going to have to agree to disagree on matters grammatical — even when we’re absolutely sure we’re right.
To reach Derek Donovan, send e-mail to readerrep@kcstar.com or call 816-234-4487 weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and noon. Visit Ad Astrum, the readers’ representative blog, at Posted on Sat, Feb. 21, 2009 10:15 PM
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