[pbs] Using proper names
Marguerite English
meenglis at meenglis.cts.com
Sat Dec 22 14:39:21 EST 2007
Well said, Jane. I was trying to be subtle about this when I mentioned
my garden club discussions. Most of the ladies really don't care what
botanists call a plant, and the few who do reserve it for less
generalized situations. Since I like these folks, I don't try to
change them. It's something like previously being an English teacher,
and correcting someone's grammar. Not something a polite person does,
no matter how important grammar is or how much she knows. I find that
people who do that are often being arrogant or unkind. It is different
when we are writing or editing for a scientific or international
audience, the naming rules are different than for a local audience.
And, as you say, a good editor doesn't permit her authors to put forth
articles that will embarrass them later. Marguerite
Jane McGary wrote:
> On the other hand, no useful purpose is served by applying prescriptive
> standards to usage in contexts where these standards are unnecessary.
> However annoyed you may be by the term "calla lily," pointing it out over
> coffee at a local garden club meeting can have several social effects you
> might not desire: (a) it redirects the topic of the conversation; (b) it
> seizes the "floor" or dominant position in an unexpected way; (c) it makes
> the other speaker feel inferior. It's much more tactful to model a
> preferred usage, which in conversation in North America, at least, would be
> "callas" and not Zantedeschia, in the hope that your interlocutor will
> imitate you. In editing, this is known as a "silent correction," because
> you change it without pointing it out to the writer, and the writer almost
> never notices that you've done so. He just smiles happily over what a good
> writer he is.
>
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