tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81418162004452476632024-02-06T23:36:20.442-05:00Suspended SentencesMusings on the use and abuse of language.Rachel Eugsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074237945349415724noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8141816200445247663.post-77897075030680879252013-11-12T17:26:00.000-05:002013-11-12T17:28:11.089-05:00Velcro Doesn't Go<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYe-xPqYUYIBja4rpJQu23F7bt_o4cBfs8306IsQEL7IsI7HOWKO7m1vU0pjjuafFuCSeA5bZjjmhCRozPESpiGPQSzsIHLvW1bsEZtzLkdw4T3ZwsBTfJZIDTLN1OEb1PhYK7ywqbvJK/s1600/velcro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYe-xPqYUYIBja4rpJQu23F7bt_o4cBfs8306IsQEL7IsI7HOWKO7m1vU0pjjuafFuCSeA5bZjjmhCRozPESpiGPQSzsIHLvW1bsEZtzLkdw4T3ZwsBTfJZIDTLN1OEb1PhYK7ywqbvJK/s320/velcro.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">"VELCRO DOESN’T GO THIS WELL TOGETHER."</span></b></div>
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Um, okay.</div>
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I mean, I know what you mean, okay?
I just don’t like it. At all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The good news: It's a sentence. So it deserves that period. Which is rare enough in advertising that we can spend a microsecond celebrating. But I don’t
even know where to begin to make it stop hurting.</div>
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Simply switching the words
around (sometimes the easiest fix) doesn’t help:</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>VELCRO
DOESN’T GO TOGETHER THIS WELL.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Um, no.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A core problem
is that Velcro is actually a company, not a thing that “goes together.” I’ll
grant you that many people call hook-and-loop fasteners by the trademark name “Velcro,”
but that doesn’t make it right. Nor does it change what I suspect is the
fundamental problem: that the item in question is rarely perceived as being composed
of constituent pieces. Which I suppose is what the “Milk Every Moment” people
had in mind. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But it doesn’t work! To the innocent reader, Velcro—or,
rather, a hook-and-loop fastener—<i>really </i>doesn’t
suggest a two-halves-make-a-whole unit. Case in point: just by rendering its
generic name singular rather than plural, I fear that I have put a kink into that
last sentence.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So to make this ad make sense (from
a language usage point of view), you almost have to do:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>THE TWO
CONTRASTING STRIPS OF A HOOK-AND-LOOP FASTENER DON’T GO TOGETHER THIS WELL.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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And by that time, you might as well fortify yourself with that milk-and-grilled-cheese snack, because you’ve
lost your ad. And let's not even <i>address</i> the condition of the billboard.</div>
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But this
makes me happy, anyway, and not because I have now introduced you to the option
of calling this wonderful invention by its generic name. That is pleasing in
its own right—even more so because it gives you all the opportunity to practice the proper deployment of your hyphens. No, it makes me happy because I did not know
that “Velcro” is a portmanteau of two French words (both of which exist in
English with slightly different meanings): <i>velours</i> (“velvet”) and <i>crochet</i>
(“hook”). Thank you, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velcro#cite_ref-OED_1-0" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>. Thank you, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_de_Mestral" target="_blank">George de Mestral.</a> Thank you,
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language" target="_blank">English</a>.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Rachel Eugsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074237945349415724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8141816200445247663.post-48868973804737019972013-11-04T13:21:00.000-05:002013-11-04T15:30:23.304-05:00Distance-lights and second-travels . . . What?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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An alert reader submitted this
question via Facebook:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“[W]hat the heck is up with: ‘One
light year, is the distance light, moving at 299,792 kilometres per second
travels in a year, or about 10 trillion kilometres.’?” </div>
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(<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/science/hellish-earth-like-planet-discovered-beyond-the-solar-system/article15179682/" target="_blank">source</a>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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A most excellent question. <bowing head> Let us parse. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Using the inexplicably outmoded but
still useful technique of sentence diagramming (which I have always <i><b>itched </b></i>to investigate but never before had
opportunity), we find that the simple subject is "light year" (sometimes
written as “light-year," which I would advocate here, for reasons you will
shortly understand), and that it has been modified by the adjective "One.”
So far, so good.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The simple predicate is also easy-peasy--it's
"is." Hooray!<o:p></o:p></div>
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No, don’t argue, children. There is
no other choice. In this sentence "travels" is obviously a noun, although
more specifically it is the second half of the compound noun “second-travels”
and (who was the copyeditor???) therefore in dire need of a hyphen. I
don't pretend to know what "second-travels" are, but would venture to
guess that this compound noun designates the trip one makes to a specific spot
after having visited it once (and only once) before. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Similarly, although the word “moving”
appears here in classic verb form, it is unquestionably being employed as an
adjective (i.e., “causing strong emotion”). Unfortunately, a little
interference seems to have inserted itself between this adjective and the noun
that it modifies. This may be random noise, probably interstellar. (If you
listen to a sample <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/104719/listen-to-the-sounds-of-interstellar-space-recorded-by-voyager-1/" target="_blank">here</a>, you can see how easily this might happen.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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I suspect that the noun being
modified by “moving” is the aforementioned “second-travels” (don’t they sound
like fun?), although one might argue that it is, instead, the adjective grouped
within this phrase (“kilometres per”)—modified in turn by the quantifier “299,792”
(which strikes me as rather a long way to go for a second-travel, or even for a
first!)—which would mean that it is functioning here more as a noun. But for
the sake of argument (’cause we love that stuff), we’ll diagram it as an
adjective.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh, the diagram! Let’s get back to
it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our next discovery is a delightful
one: We have a subject complement! (I love when that happens.) Here, it is “the
distance light.” (We may have to start docking that copyeditor’s pay, as this
would have been more immediately graspable had this additional compound noun also been hyphenated: “distance-light.”) Yet again, I am not clear on
the meaning. Fortunately, my purpose is to decode the grammar, not to divine
the sense. I’m an editor, not an astrophysicist. But I rather imagine a
"distance-light" is a kind of sidereal lighthouse. Quite poetic!<o:p></o:p></div>
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What we have next is a somewhat
unfortunate pile-up of appositive phrases. I am not sure how “distance-light” (sing.)
can be equated with “second-travels” (pl.), but the structure of this sentence
demonstrates very clearly that these terms correspond. “Second-travels” is
modified quite spectacularly, first (as mentioned earlier) by “moving at,” then
by “kilometres per” (which are in turn quantified by “299,972”) and finally by
the prepositional phrase “in a year.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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At this stage, we are offered an
alternative. Instead of equating “distance-light” with “second-travels,” we are
given the option (such is the function of the “or”) of drawing a
parallel with “kilometres” (modified by “trillion,” quantified by “10,” in turn
qualified by “about"). <o:p></o:p></div>
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How very mysterious! I have no clue
how 299,972 kilometres can be equated with 10 trillion kilometres. We may need to
consult a science person—preferably someone who’s good with this deep-space stuff.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Judging by the grammar alone, we
find that the secret may lie in the sneaky insertion—heavens, a <i>third </i>(or is it <i>fourth?)</i> unhyphenated compound,
this time an adjective! (Time to <b><i>fire </i></b>that copyeditor!)—of “per.” And that gives
us all the information we need. Indubitably, in the world of astrophysics, “kilometre
[n.]” does not equal “kilometre-per [adj.]”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lastly, we discover that . . . Well,
we discover, rather shockingly and anticlimactically, not only that this
sentence makes no sense at all, but that it fails to conclude! It’s true. Just
look at the diagram, above.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the whole this is a rather good
thing, as not only have we run out of patience, but our diagram has run off the
page.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But wait. It has struck us like a lightning bolt (or a meteorite) that there is an
easier solution. What happens if we commit a simple comma shift? How much
confusion (and silliness) might have been avoided!<o:p></o:p></div>
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“One light year is the distance light,
moving at 299,792 kilometres per second, travels in a year, or about 10
trillion kilometres.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> Given my druthers, </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I might have rewritten this
sentence (actually, there's no “might” about that), but now, all of a sudden, it makes
sense.</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">See how important it is to keep track of your commas?</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Thank you, alert reader!</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rachel Eugsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074237945349415724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8141816200445247663.post-66814939077345420632013-04-26T00:00:00.002-04:002013-11-04T13:32:17.936-05:00The Next Big Thing?<br />
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It’s early in this blog to take a side trip, but I have been invited to participate in a global blog tour called “The Next Big Thing?” Tee-hee!
I gave myself <i>just</i> enough latitude when I defined this blog’s purpose in a way that allows me to consider the <i>use</i> of language as well as its misuse. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So not to toot my own horn (or, rather, to stand on a rooftop
and give it a great big blast), the language used in this case is my own, and
for me it is a <b>VERY</b> big “next big
thing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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After being tagged by a fellow author or illustrator, each
participant in the tour posts the answers to ten questions about their new (or next) book, and then tags two to five people in turn.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Before I answered the questions, though, I wanted to know more about when and how this game of
tag began. Finding the answer took a while (and led me briefly
down a false trail), but the very first “The Next Big Thing” post seems to have
originated in the blog of Hawaiian writer<a href="http://tobyneal.net/2012/06/23/the-next-big-thing/" target="_blank"> Toby Neal</a> in June of 2012.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisl4kNqsP4aGt5s_degDRnQfXpuRizYCd0imjU6ID9ZrSaX4E_19GiOsOG1oQeosGtLatg12cYeHyYHme-kk0zCe6yAW6xlr_cS_KLwbztoRk_AgrLKJjrn9Kthd94sdX4Gr3wRcfc1Neq/s1600/next+big+thing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisl4kNqsP4aGt5s_degDRnQfXpuRizYCd0imjU6ID9ZrSaX4E_19GiOsOG1oQeosGtLatg12cYeHyYHme-kk0zCe6yAW6xlr_cS_KLwbztoRk_AgrLKJjrn9Kthd94sdX4Gr3wRcfc1Neq/s200/next+big+thing.jpg" width="200" /></a> A few entries later, this little green banner began to float
alongside the posts before it disappeared again. An earlier participant suggests that writer Sheila Deeth created it, although she didn't use it in her
own<a href="http://sheiladeeth.blogspot.ca/2012/10/my-next-big-thing.html" target="_blank"> blog post</a>. Let’s
see how long it hangs on, this time!</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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Big thank-yous to Toby Neal for starting the tour (brilliant idea!), and to my friend and
colleague <a href="http://flattperspective.blogspot.ca/2013/04/my-next-big-thing.html" target="_blank">Lizann Flatt</a> for tagging me last week.
Go read her books!<u><span style="color: blue;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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And now I’ll answer the ten questions, and tag more authors at the end. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"> Happy reading!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDX3vPXK58j4ob7JoTRbS_td7lBAkyqAQlCSV_5PrEI1Wv9b2tTDML4HD8ShTKci3Dpq894GIfHNdGS09Xm_fKkmFB3w8RvaMflBgyf9qme4K0kN9MTV29o1k1NxSDTV8J3Aa_LjWVL2bA/s1600/pocket+mommy+cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDX3vPXK58j4ob7JoTRbS_td7lBAkyqAQlCSV_5PrEI1Wv9b2tTDML4HD8ShTKci3Dpq894GIfHNdGS09Xm_fKkmFB3w8RvaMflBgyf9qme4K0kN9MTV29o1k1NxSDTV8J3Aa_LjWVL2bA/s200/pocket+mommy+cover.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(1)
What is the working title of your book?</span></b></div>
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<i> The Pocket Mommy</i><br />
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<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(2)
Where did the idea come from for the book?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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It was inspired by something my younger son Samuel said. He had
a very hard time letting me go when I dropped him off at kindergarten. One day,
he said (though a little more elaborately): “Mommy, I hate it when you leave me
at school. I wish you were the tiniest mommy in the world, so I could keep you
in my pocket all day.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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In that very instant, I knew there was a book that would
begin right there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(3)
In what genre does your book fall?</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It’s a children’s
picture book. Is there a fantasy sub-genre within picture-book fiction?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(4)
What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie
rendition?</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I’d love to
cast a young Lily Tomlin as the Mommy/Pocket Mommy character. (Thanks to my
taggee Kate Jaimet for the suggestion!) Maybe even better: Claire Danes,
with a dash of Robin Williams. Or Sandra Oh. It requires an actor who can project warmth and
comfort, but also zip and a certain nutty edge.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For the
character of Samuel, we’ll need an open casting call. We’ll be seeking a child
who looks sweet and trusting (big blue eyes are a plus), but who can also put
his foot down when necessary.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The real
conundrum will be how to cast the guinea pig.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(5)
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Perhaps it’s best summed up by the two sentences that will appear
inside the book jacket:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i> Samuel wishes for a
tiny mommy who can fit into his pocket and spend the day with him at school.
When he gets his wish, things don’t go as planned. . . . <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(6)
Who is publishing your book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.tundrabooks.com/">Tundra Books</a>, Canada’s oldest publisher of children’s books
(now a division of <a href="http://www.randomhouse.ca/imprints/tundra-books">Random House</a>)<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(7)
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?</span></b><br />
That depends on how one
defines “first draft”! Some day, I will give a talk in which I compare what I
first got down onto paper with what is actually being published. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I started sketching out the story in 1996. If you put
all the days in which I found time to work on it end to end, it might not span
more than a year or two. But there’s no question it’s been a long road.
The manuscript was accepted in 2009. I signed the contract in 2011—and emailed my
colleagues on the SCBWI Canada listserv to tell them that the weekend after
driving my son off to his first year as a university undergraduate, I signed a
contract to publish a book inspired by something he said in kindergarten. </div>
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The
book will be released this fall (2013). <o:p></o:p></div>
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To say that this business moves glacially is to assign it
inordinate speed!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(8)
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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This is a
really tough question, because there are books in other children’s genres
that it resembles more closely than the picture books I can think of.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It shares a little genetic material with any picture book
that weaves a fantastical element into an otherwise realistically portrayed
child’s world. So maybe something like Jan Brett’s <i>The Mitten</i> would be a distant cousin. Or Amy Schwartz’s <i>Bea and Mr. Jones,</i> with which it shares
a kindergarten setting. Another real-world-with-a-twist sort of tale is <i>Perfect the Pig</i> by Susan Jeschke<i>.</i> Or <i>Eloise</i>
by Kay Thompson.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are a lot of books that focus matter-of-factly on the interaction
between the child and a fantasy element, like <i>Harold and the Purple Crayon </i>by Crockett Johnson<i>, </i>Robert Munch’s <i>A Promise is
a Promise, </i>or (dare I say so?) Maurice Sendak’s <i>Where the Wild Things Are.</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
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My hope is it will offer comfort similar to what can be found
in <i>Mama, Do You Love Me?</i> by Barbara
M. Joosse, or <i>Grandfather Twilight </i>by
Barbara Berger, or <i>Goodnight Moon</i> by
Margaret Wise Brown.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And a couple of turns of phrase crept in that I came to think of as secret tributes to A.A. Milne.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But it differs from any of these books by at least as much
as it resembles them!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(9)
Who or what inspired you to write this book?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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See
question number two. ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lots of kids have a hard time with being dropped off—including
my older son, for whom I made a “mommy doll” out of a sock, with blue button eyes
and red yarn hair. Knowing what a universal tug this is for both parent and child
certainly inspired me to write the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #19b1e7; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-angle: 2700000; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shade-linearshade-fscaled: no; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-shadetype: linear; mso-style-textfill-fill-gradientfill-stoplist: "0 \#006A90 -1 100000 shade=30000 satm=115000\,50000 \#069ACF -1 100000 shade=67500 satm=115000\,100000 \#0AB8F6 -1 100000 shade=100000 satm=115000"; mso-style-textfill-type: gradient;">(10)
What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The
wonderful art by <a href="http://tomgoldsmithillustration.com/" target="_blank">Tom Goldsmith,</a> of course. Go check out the energy, the humour,
and the sheer virtuosity of his drawings. It was really exciting to watch him bring my story to life.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, there is the sentence that closes Tundra’s description of the book, which was
contributed by my brilliant editor, Samantha Swenson. If this doesn’t make you
want to read the book (and buy it for every small child you know), I don’t know
what will.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>An energetic romp with a sweet core, </i>The Pocket Mommy<i> follows one little boy as he navigates the age-old conflict between
the comfort of the familiar and the joy of letting go.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> And now (at 11:50 p.m., or one minute before my deadline) I tag</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2979138.Kate_Jaimet/blog" target="_blank">Kate Jaimet</a> and <a href="http://terrifarley.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Terri Farley</a>.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjObw24iT33mwhUSUtICOma1F30EU19zIrMqp8Z_ZG1xPLcz10-FIttzARAHMjdI_qVl00CnIWF4JDdq-WJx1UBWdRiXQSQvAqmA2KmY_KqQN9056AAZpMLH7AwmCqFX6v-Yp-Qld1VJVu7/s1600/break+point.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjObw24iT33mwhUSUtICOma1F30EU19zIrMqp8Z_ZG1xPLcz10-FIttzARAHMjdI_qVl00CnIWF4JDdq-WJx1UBWdRiXQSQvAqmA2KmY_KqQN9056AAZpMLH7AwmCqFX6v-Yp-Qld1VJVu7/s1600/break+point.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />Rachel Eugsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074237945349415724noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8141816200445247663.post-16445661883172517082012-05-04T00:17:00.001-04:002012-05-04T11:13:46.748-04:00In Case of Fire . . .<br />
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I’m learning! Blogs are most lively with pictures. So here’s
an image to contemplate as we discuss what will be an overarching
question of this blog: <i>Does clear English matter?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgHfY1sxECTxYUYGlvhjoQjI0bNnwy-52EHWTSJgQJ1bKG4n0SsD9NXi5Kn551-0GrGDnrcpMRcgNlL93nIujQOI2Yo1oMwz1obrSOoRFMRidxqQmaQpPjrwy0JU6L4w6m7DYwPCA3qZ5/s1600/fire+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmgHfY1sxECTxYUYGlvhjoQjI0bNnwy-52EHWTSJgQJ1bKG4n0SsD9NXi5Kn551-0GrGDnrcpMRcgNlL93nIujQOI2Yo1oMwz1obrSOoRFMRidxqQmaQpPjrwy0JU6L4w6m7DYwPCA3qZ5/s320/fire+crop.jpg" width="151" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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In case you can’t see the photo, it's a fancy sign that I encountered beside the elevators in a retirement home. The relevant lines
proclaim (erroneous capitalization and all):</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>In Case Of Fire</b></div>
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<b>Elevators Are Out Of Service.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The establishment’s intended meaning is clear: If fire
breaks out, don’t wait for an elevator, because it won’t come. There is no
reason to doubt that they mean what they say.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But sap that I am, I expect signs--and sentences--to say what they
mean, and this wording caused me to do some mental translation (a professional
hazard). While most folks would immediately grasp that they’ll need to take
the stairs in the event of fire, this wording actually suggests that the elevators have already been turned off.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Don't believe me? I'll prove it. English is flexible when it comes to
word order. Nuance may change when you shift a sentence’s components around,
but meaning is rarely affected. Possibly even never. (Challenge! Find me an
English sentence that shifts meaning when its word order is changed.) </div>
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<br /></div>
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Take the second sentence of this
post, for example: “Blogs are most lively with pictures.” You can say “blogs with pictures
are most lively” or “with pictures, blogs are most lively” or even (but
clumsily) “blogs are with pictures most lively” without changing the meaning. See?</div>
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<br /></div>
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But look what happens when we flip our elevator sign around. “Elevators are out of service in case of fire.” Yikes! Why didn’t you say so?
It is suddenly clear that the establishment is so worried by the
eventuality of fire that they have turned off the elevators as a preventive
measure! Let’s get out of here! "Use exit!"</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i>Clear English matters.</i></b></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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<b><i>******************************</i></b></div>
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<i>P.S. Could it be that someone was made uneasy by the ambiguity?This sign is posted nearby:</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12BEZk0X4QPiWLyM5N6FJvQ5kyA0dWZY60gid75BLQcfOXuT00OElTk8HBwTDNzqS_Iiyw0cjWTyb9nwPeAUI-hsJpxIezBw8Y6AdhBSd3Q671Y0Bxhnn20FUj_Zji1Ob7wWtRBHxDR0i/s1600/IMG_20120424_090816+good+wording.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12BEZk0X4QPiWLyM5N6FJvQ5kyA0dWZY60gid75BLQcfOXuT00OElTk8HBwTDNzqS_Iiyw0cjWTyb9nwPeAUI-hsJpxIezBw8Y6AdhBSd3Q671Y0Bxhnn20FUj_Zji1Ob7wWtRBHxDR0i/s320/IMG_20120424_090816+good+wording.jpg" width="294" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Rachel Eugsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074237945349415724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8141816200445247663.post-18179476787841193502012-03-08T16:50:00.000-05:002012-03-13T10:08:02.722-04:00<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Who you gonna call?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Discussions about grammar and language are often characterized
as face-offs between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prescriptivists </i>(underwear-ironing
purists who can’t die out quickly enough) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">descriptionists</i> (lusty progressives who choose to break the rules to
connect with the masses).</div>
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These
particular images come from a <a href="http://theessayexpert.com/blog/2011/05/15/top-10-obsolete-grammar-rules-by-guest-blogger-steven-sawyer/" target="_blank">guest post</a> at the Essay Expert by Steven Sawyer.
You can guess to which camp he swears allegiance.* </div>
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It’s descriptionists
who tend to frame the discussion in black and white. Prescriptivists are too
busy enjoying the ebb and flow of living language, weighing riveting usage
dilemmas, and helping friends ford ticklish linguistic waters to be fussed
about being called prissy prudes by those who think the mere fact that people <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> it makes it right.</div>
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I am indeed
a prescriptivist, athough it would never occur to me to iron my underwear. (My
attitude to most housekeeping is: “Who has time?”) What is missing from this scenario—and
too often from the way English is taught—is nuance. Fine editing, like good
writing, is as much art as science. Within the arena of what’s considered acceptable,
there is abundant choice. Serial comma or not? Absolutely, say I, but I defend
your right to choose otherwise—if you understand that it’s not as simple as
choosing whether or not to include a comma before “and.” Meter or metre? It may
depend on where you are, who you are, or what you’re trying to say. In most
cases, what’s important is being consistent, not which option you select.</div>
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Most
reasonable prescriptivists understand that language continually evolves. Many
enjoy watching the progression that new usages follow on their way to becoming
accepted. Thus, I enjoy hearing my sons (who use English beautifully) refer to a
seedy area as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sketchy</i>, describe
themselves as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rocking</i> a particular
look, or use <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">google</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">friend</i> as verbs. It’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> okay.</i> English didn’t get where it is
today (i.e., pretty much everywhere) by being inflexible.</div>
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There are
times when you will want to know the difference between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">its</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it’s</i>, when to
deploy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">whom</i>, and that if you emitted
saliva yesterday you did not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spit</i> but
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spat</i>. You may wish to use the written
word to sway your sweetie, impress your boss, sail your manuscript into the acceptance
pile, or confound your enemies. You’ll need to use clear, energetic language
that does not distract with errors or ambiguities.<br />
When that day comes, who you
gonna call?<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">**</i> The guy who says, “It’s
fine, honey. Putting it into words makes it legitimate!”? Or the expert who delights
in helping you express yourself in the best English you can possibly muster?</div>
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I’m only a query
away.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">*Note to descriptionists:
Yes, it would have been equally acceptable to write: “You can guess which camp
he swears allegiance to.” Didn’t wanna.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">**Note to Sony
Pictures: Don’t sue me! Not only do I know this is not a proper sentence, I know
it’s yours. But asking “Whom will you phone?” would take all the guts out of my
first-ever blog post and sacrifice a priceless cultural reference. Don’t
worry! 99.9% of my readers will know
this comes from </i>Ghostbusters<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. That’s
the point!</i></div>
<br />Rachel Eugsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04074237945349415724noreply@blogger.com2