One goal of
Advanced Etiquette is to make people feel comfortable and at
ease in social
situations. While proper punctuation and
word usage may not be directly related to having good manners and
etiquette, using language correctly is part of presenting yourself
to others with the best image possible. When you say or write something
incorrectly, it sends uncomfortable signals to the listener or
reader, similar to the screeching sounds of running your fingers
across a chalkboard—yipps! Using correct punctuation and
words will elevate your stature in both social and business situations. 2. There
versus Their. Which
is correct?... “Cheryl
and Pam walked there dogs” or “Cheryl
and Pam walked their dogs.” Choose Door Number 2. There is
a location (among other meanings) but their is the pronoun
for more than 4. Less and More are not Fewer and Greater. Less and more refer to quantity. For example, “She filled the blue cup more (or less) than the red cup.” Fewer and greater refer to number. I am bothered every time I see “Express Line, 10 Items or Less.” These signs are incorrect, which irritates me to no end. The signs should read “Express Line: 10 Items or Fewer.” Every time I see this, it makes me think about never returning to that store. Their image as an educated, professional establishment goes straight to the bottom of the list. 5. Zero or O. Zero is a number. O is a letter. While most people are careful to type the right character, many folks are less careful when talking. In speech, use the word zero to state a number. For example, “the area code for San Jose, California, is four zero eight.” 6. Stationery versus Stationary. Use your beautiful personalized stationery to write a thank-you note for the business lunch; use a stationary bike to keep in shape. Stationary means to stay in one place and stationery refers to materials for letter writing. 7. Compliment versus Complement. Give a compliment to a friend whose jewelry complements her eyes. One refers to giving praise and the other mean to have something match or “go along” with something else. 8. Hyphens and Dashes. A hyphen is a very short horizontal line used between compound words such as your telephone number and zip code+4. To be correct, say the word “hyphen” not “dash”when stating your telephone number and/or zip code+4. A telephone number should correctly be stated as “area code 415-hyphen-346-hyphen-3665.” A written dash is a longer horizontal line used to set-off a comment or interruption within a sentence. It is stronger than a comma and less formal than a colon. Verbally, these kind of comments are called “asides.” For further
information on National Punctuation Day, see www.NationalPunctuationDay.com Happy Practicing! To view our past Etiquette Tips of the Month, please choose a topic below:
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August
22nd has been designated "National Punctuation Day" by
my good friend Jeff Rubin. In his honor, and to celebrate this
important day, I am sharing a few solutions of my own on word and
punctuation usage.