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Wisdom and Wit About the Wonderful and Often Wacky World of Words
Published by Bob Kelly
Resident Wordsmith and Quotemeister
WordCrafters, Inc.
www.wordcrafters.info
Providing the Right Word for Speakers, Writers, Ministry Leaders, Business Executives and Just Plain Folks – since 1979!
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Volume 6 – Number 5 May 2008
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Welcome to Issue 65 of The KellyGram!
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In case you’re wondering why this issue is getting to you so late this month, it’s because of an unexpected interruption in my schedule a few weeks ago. It seems the "heartburn" I was feeling early one morning turned out to be something else entirely, and I’ve now become a member of what I’m told is called "The Zipper Club." That’s the code name for the lengthy scar left on one’s chest following open heart surgery.
I’m happy to report that my recovery is going very well, and I’m grateful for the many cards and phone calls I’ve received. It’s good to be back on the job, even though I still have a few more weeks before I can swing a golf club again. However, given the way I was swinging it before my surgery, that’s probably a blessing – one of many I’ve experienced lately.
As always, I welcome your support. If you’ve found The KellyGram to be a helpful resource, I’d be grateful if you’d send this issue along to your friends, family members and colleagues. If they’d like to subscribe – it’s FREE – all they have to do is send an email to bob@kellygram.com or use the form at http://www.wordcrafters.info/newsletters.html. Thanks so much!
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In This Issue:
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FUN WITH WORDS
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With Mother’s Day being celebrated this month, we challenge you to identify the following where her name appears:
__ __ __ __ __ M A |
Site of major World War II battle |
You’ll find the correct answers elsewhere in this issue.
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THE QUOTE CORNER (Reading)
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I’ve always loved to read, but have sometimes found it hard amid the busyness of everyday to do as much of it as I’d like. But, during these past few weeks, as I’ve been recovering from major surgery, I’ve been able to devote more time to the pleasures of reading, and plan to continue doing so, even as I’m getting back on a full work schedule.
I hope you’ll enjoy the following quotations about reading. And you’ll find more of them in the January 2007 issue of The KellyGram, which is archived on our web site.
The reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were the authors of them, nay a carefully studied conversation, in which they reveal to us none but the best of their thoughts.
René Descartes
Many times the reading of a book has made the future of a man.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
One trouble with developing speed reading skills is that by the time you realize a book is boring you've already finished it.
Franklin P. Jones
If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it? . . . A book must be like an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within us.
Franz Kafka
If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.
Stephen King
I love to lose myself in other men’s minds. When I am not walking, I am reading; I cannot sit and think. Books think for me.
Charles Lamb
In reading great literature, I become a thousand men and yet remain myself . . . Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.
C.S. Lewis
Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.
C.S. Lewis
"Tell me what you read and I’ll tell you who you are" is true enough, but I’d know you better if you told me what you reread.
François Mauriac
Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
P.J. O’Rourke
There are few subjects about which people will lie more readily than what they have been reading.
Larry Ragan
Some people claim that it is okay to read trashy novels because sometimes you can find something valuable in them. You can also find a crust of bread in a garbage can, if you search long enough, but there is a better way.
Jim Rohn
Reading is a means of thinking with another person’s mind; it forces you to stretch your own.
Charles Scribner, Jr.
Read an hour every day in your chosen field. This works out to about one book per week, 50 books per year, and will guarantee your success.
Brian Tracy
(Note: These quotations are taken from our collection of more than 400 published volumes of quotations and 1.5 million entries. If you’re looking for some quotes on virtually any subject, send us an email at bob@kellygram.com, or call us at 480-895-7617. Or, if you have a quote topic you’d like us to feature in an upcoming issue, email it to us and we’ll get it on the schedule.)
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CONFUSED BY WHICH DASH TO USE?
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Back in the old typewriter days (remember them?), you basically had two choices when you wanted to use dashes in your copy: a single hyphen or a double hyphen. With the arrival of word processing software, the situation got more complex. The double hyphen is out, and the single hyphen is primarily limited to its traditional form: as a punctuation mark linking two words.
Instead, what we have today are em (longer) dashes and en (shorter) dashes. As I’ve learned from some of my clients, when to use which one has become very confusing, compounded by varying opinions on whether or not a space should or should not precede and follow the dash.
Much of the confusion arises from a lack of consensus among publishers, writers, etc. about the correct style. There is no overriding style manual which all publishers use. Most book publishers use The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), while newspaper and magazine publishers prefer The Associated Press Stylebook (AP).
Some publications – the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, for example – publish their own style manuals. Over the years, I’ve done projects for other organizations which had their own in-house style manuals. No two are the same.
According to the CMS, em dashes are the only ones to be used in body copy and should be used without spaces fore or aft. The AP position does not agree with CMS. It has one rule for dashes (and doesn’t distinguish between em and en dashes): "Put a space on both sides of a dash in all uses except the start of a paragraph…"
In its excellent article on the use of dashes, Wikipedia makes this observation: "Some writers, finding the em dash unappealingly long, prefer to use an open-set [with spaces] en dash." That’s what I prefer to use, unless I’m writing or editing a book for a publishing house which requires adherence to CMS rules.
Yes, deciding which dash to use, and in what situations, can be very confusing but, in my view, Wikipedia simplifies it to some degree with this advice: "There is little consensus, and it is a matter of personal or house taste; the important thing is that the usage should be consistent." That way, if you’re required by a publisher to make a change, it’s very simple to use the "find" and "replace" commands in your software.
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SMILE AWHILE
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I was recently given a copy of an excellent book titled A Scandalous Freedom, written in 2004 by Steve Brown, a radio broadcaster, seminary professor and author. I’d first heard him speak way back in 1975, but hadn’t come across his name since that time, so I decided to Google him. I found his web site (www.keylife.org), and clicked on "Steve’s Letter," which began with this question: "Did I mention I had a heart attack?"
Well, having just had a similar experience myself, I took immediate note of his letter. About halfway through it, he related the following anecdote, which I decided was worth sharing:
"Someone told me about the man who had his annual physical and was pronounced in good health. On the way out of the doctor’s office, he had a coronary and died on the spot. ‘What are we going to do?’ the nurse said to the doctor. ‘I don’t know about you,’ he replied, ‘but I’m going to turn him around.’"
Fortunately, neither Steve nor I perished on the spot, and we’re well on our way back to full health. I’m grateful to him for that story. Even when we’re going through difficult times, a smile or a laugh is always good medicine.
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ODDS AND ENDS
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Back Issues:
All previous issues of The KellyGram, dating back to January 2003, are available on our website: http://www.wordcrafters.info/back_issues.html.
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Your privacy is very important to us. We assure you that under no circumstances will we share, distribute, publish, give away or sell our mailing lists or other information about you to any other party.
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Comments/Questions:
Your comments and questions are always welcome. Please contact us at bob@kellygram.com, or call Bob Kelly at (480) 895-7617.
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Answer to Fun with Words:
Here are the answers to this month’s puzzle:
IWO JIMA
YOKAHAMA
BAHAMAS
MANHATTAN
OLD MAN RIVER
AMAZING GRACE
TACOMA
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THE LAST WORD
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"Words have incredible power. They can make people’s hearts sore, and they can make people’s hearts soar."
Mardy Grothe
Mardy Grothe, Ph.D. is a friend, colleague and wordsmith extraordinaire. If you enjoy quotations and you’re not getting his weekly ezine, "Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week," shame on you. It’s free, and you can subscribe by sending an email to drmardy-on@mail-list.com.
Mardy has written/compiled some great books: Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You (1999); Oxymoronica (2004); and Viva la Repartee (2005). His newest book, I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like, is scheduled for release this coming August. He’s also busily working on still another book. I’ve seen bits and pieces of it, but he’s sworn me to secrecy at this point. Stay tuned!
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© 2008 by Bob Kelly. All rights reserved.
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