Chapter 9: Spelling, Capitalization, and Abbreviations

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Chapter 9 Spelling, Capitalization, and
Abbreviations

• 3140 Technical Editing

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Importance

• Errors demonstrate carelessness
• Credibility suffers
• May impair reader comprehension

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Spelling

• Guidelines
• Use spell checker
• Use a dictionary
• Keep a list of frequently misspelled words
• Develop mnemonics
• Principal (school officialyour pal)
• Stationery (writing paper)

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Spelling

• Guidelines
• Learn root words, prefixes, and suffixes
• subunder
• misindicates error or wrongness
• disindicates negation
• innot

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Spelling

• Guidelines
• Apply spelling rules
• Final e
• Final consonant (doubled with past tense or ing
  form)
• web
• Able/ible
• Respect the limits of your knowledge
• Know your weaknesses

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Spelling

• Useful list
• http//www.bartleby.com/141/strunk4.html

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Frequently Misused Words

• List 143-145
• More
• http//www.bartleby.com/141/strunk3.html

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Capitalization

• First word of a sentence
• Titles
• People
• Days, months, holidays
• I
• Proper nouns

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Capitalization

• Names of specific regions
• Adjectives of geographic names

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Abbreviations

• When to use an abbreviation?
• Why use an abbreviation?
• How to punctuate abbreviations?

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Summary

• Correct spelling, capitalization, and
  abbreviations increase the accuracy and clarity
  of writing. Experience with language and
  understanding of its rules will help editors work
  quickly and accurately on these aspects of a
  document, but good editors will also depend on
  dictionaries and style manuals. These resources
  establish conventions and aid in consistency.
  (Rude, 3rd ed. 151)