The Logical Blog

by Jennie Ruby

I have been told, and have taught, that you define an acronym on first use if it is used at least once more in the document. But during a recent class one of my students opened my eyes to thinking further about acronym use. Writers and editors at her agency, she said, have a policy that if an acronym is not used at least five times in the text, they do not use the acronym at all.

That policy struck me at once as being so sensible that I immediately adopted it for my own use. Why make your reader have to search back for where an acronym was defined if you have used it only twice in the entire document? Just spell it out the second time. Unless the acronym is more frequently used in the world than the spelled out words are–like CSS instead of Cascading Style Sheets–the meaning is going to be clearer if you spell out the words.

Another student sent me some text that used an acronym to refer to a group of people. The acronym referred to a medical condition, but it was along the lines of defining Microsoft Word Users as MWUs. The people were then called MWUs throughout the text. This immediately struck me as dehumanizing and disrespectful, especially since guidelines about talking about people with disabilities recommend always using the word people or person, as in people with asthma instead of asthmatics, to avoid characterizing people as totally defined by their disease. It seems even worse to define people as acronyms.

Good writing is both efficient and clear. Use of acronyms may seem very efficient, but that may be at the cost of clarity. Spelling out more words and phrases instead of using acronyms may make the document longer, but it may actually increase efficiency if it means the reader does not have to stop and go back to reread what an acronym stood for.

At their worst acronyms can make a document seem overly technical, or even exclusionary, as readers who are not very familiar with the acronyms struggle to derive meaning from terse groups of letters. 

So for now, I am going with the "used at least five times" rule in my work. Let me know what you think. Does your office have a policy like this? Do you use a lot of acronyms? Do you avoid them? I would love to hear from you.

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My next live, online grammar class is a one-day review, May 10. Bring your actual problem sentences, hyphenation questions, and other grammar conundrums and have them answered once and for all. Sign up now to allow time for your copy of Abrams' Guide to Grammar to arrive before the class.

About the Author:  Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" to her credit. She is a publishing professional with more than 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

by Jennie Ruby

Here are the answers to last week's grammar challenge. Were you able to name the errors? Did you fix them correctly? Some of these problems may have more than one correct answer. For example, the sentence fragment can be corrected many different ways. If you have questions about any of these, I would love to hear from you.

1. Using the new iPad app, the best erosion control method can be found quickly.

   Using the new iPad app, engineers can find the best erosion control method quickly. You can correct this dangling participle by adding a subject that is described by the introductory participial phrase.

2. A basic telescope can allow you to see Jupiter and its moons but for more distant objects such as the Crab Nebula you need more serious gear.

   You can correct this run-on sentence by adding a comma after moons.

    

3. The new second-generation processor delivers improved resolution, it transforms your ordinary video into a stunning feast for the eyes.

   You could correct this comma splice by changing the comma to a semicolon.

    

4. Improving the computer's speed on benchmark tests by only 2.4%, graphics were still slow to upload after the upgrade.

   The upgrade improved the computer's speed on benchmark tests by only 2.4%, so graphics were still slow to upload. You could correct this misplaced modifier by moving the word being modified closer to its modifier. In my correction, I converted the modifier phrase starting with improving into a complete clause by adding the word upgrade. 

    

5. To prevent hacking of the present system and work toward a long-term solution while saving money along the way.

   We can prevent hacking of the present system and work toward a long-term solution while saving money along the way. You can fix this sentence fragment by adding a subject or by adding a complete independent clause.

    

6. While one may need an industrial-grade personnel training solution in the long term, you can still address basic needs with an entry-level system today.

   While you may need… I fixed this unexpected change in person by changing one to you to match the pronoun you in the second part of the sentence.

    

7. This training forum allows you to discuss newly developed materials, upload samples for beta testing and to receive detailed feedback from your colleagues.

   You could fix this lack of parallelism by adding the word to before upload. And depending on your style guide, you might add the optional serial comma after testing.

8. Building management gave the task of self-publishing the materials to all of the development office staff, including myself.

   You can correct the incorrect pronoun usage by changing myself to me.

My next live, online grammar class is a one-day review, May 10. Bring your actual problem sentences, hyphenation questions, and other grammar conundrums and have them answered once and for all. Sign up now to allow time for your copy of Abrams' Guide to Grammar to arrive before the class.

About the Author:  Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" to her credit. She is a publishing professional with more than 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

by Jennie Ruby

"Why did you change my sentence? I liked it the way it was." If you edit other people's writing, you will face this question at some point. To be prepared to answer it, you need to know the names of common grammar errors that a writer can make. And, of course, it helps to know how to fix them. Here are some examples of sentences with problems. Can you name the grammar and punctuation errors? Can you fix them? I'll bring you the answers next week.

1. Using the new iPad app, the best erosion control method can be found quickly.

    

2. A basic telescope can allow you to see Jupiter and its moons but for more distant objects such as the Crab Nebula you need more serious gear.

    

3. The new second-generation processor delivers improved resolution, it transforms your ordinary video into a stunning feast for the eyes.

    

4. Improving the computer's speed on benchmark tests by only 2.4%, graphics were still slow to upload after the upgrade.

    

5. To prevent hacking of the present system and work toward a long-term solution while saving money along the way.

    

6. While one may need an industrial-grade personnel training solution in the long term, you can still address basic needs with an entry-level system today.

    

7. This training forum allows you to discuss newly developed materials, upload samples for beta testing and to receive detailed feedback from your colleagues.

    

8. Building management gave the task of self-publishing the materials to all of the development office staff, including myself.

My next live, online grammar class is a one-day review, May 10. Bring your actual problem sentences, hyphenation questions, and other grammar conundrums and have them answered once and for all. Sign up now to allow time for your copy of Abrams' Guide to Grammar to arrive before the class.

About the Author:  Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" to her credit. She is a publishing professional with more than 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.