quiet/quite QUIET/QUITE This is probably caused by a slip of the fingers more often than by a slip of the mental gears, but one often sees “quite” (very) substituted for “quiet” (shhh!). This is one of those common errors your spelling checker will not catch, so look out for it. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/quiet.html03/09/2005 15:39:32 quote QUOTE A passage doesn’t become a quote (or—better—"quotation") until you’ve quoted it. The only time to refer to a “quote” is when you are referring to someone quoting something. When referring to the original words, simply call it a passage. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/quote.html03/09/2005 15:39:32 quotation marks QUOTATION MARKS The examples below are set off in order to avoid confusion over the use of single and double quotation marks. There are many ways to go wrong with quotation marks. They are often used ironically: She ran around with a bunch of “intellectuals.” The quotation marks around “intellectuals” indicate that the writer believes that these are in fact so- called intellectuals, not real intellectuals at all. The ironic use of quotation marks is very much overdone, and is usually a sign of laziness indicating that the writer has not bothered to find the precise word or expression necessary. Advertisers unfortunately tend to use quotation marks merely for emphasis: “FRESH” TOMATOES 59 CENTS A POUND The influence of the more common ironic usage tends to make the reader question whether these tomatoes are really fresh. Underlining, bold lettering, all caps—there are several less ambiguous ways to emphasize words than placing them between quotation marks. In American usage, single quotation marks are used normally only for quoted words and phrases within quotations. Angela had the nerve to tell me “When I saw ‘BYOB’ on your invitation, I assumed it meant ‘Bring Your Old Boyfriend’.” British usage tends to reverse this relationship, with single quotation marks being standard and double ones being used only for quotations within quotations. (The English also call quotation marks “inverted commas,” though only the opening quotation mark is actually inverted—and flipped, as well.) Single quotation marks are also used in linguistic, phonetic, and philosophical studies to surround words and phrases under discussion; but the common practice of using single quotation marks for short phrases and words and double ones for complete sentences is otherwise an error. Block quotations like this should not be surrounded by any quotation marks at all. (A file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/quotation_marks.html (1 sur 3)03/09/2005 15:39:33 quotation marks passage this short should not be rendered as a block quotation; you need at least three lines of verse or five lines of prose to justify a block quotation.) Normally you should leave extra space above and below a block quotation. When quoting a long passage involving more than one paragraph, quotation marks go at the beginning of each paragraph, but at the end of only the final one. Dialogue in which the speaker changes with each paragraph has each speech enclosed in its own quotation marks. Titles of books and other long works that might be printed as books are usually italicized (except, for some reason, in newspapers); but the titles of short poems, stories, essays, and other works that would be more commonly printed within larger works (anthologies, collections, periodicals, etc.) are enclosed in quotation marks. There are different patterns for regulating how quotation marks relate to other punctuation. Find out which one your teacher or editor prefers and use it, or choose one of your own liking, but stick to it consistently. One widely accepted authority in America is the Chicago Manual of Style, whose guidelines are outlined below. English, Canadian, Australian and other writers in British-influenced countries should be aware that their national patterns will be quite different, and variable. In standard American practice, commas are placed inside quotation marks: I spent the morning reading Faulkner’s “Barn Burning,” which seemed to be about a pyromaniac. Periods are also normally placed inside quotation marks (with the exception of terms being defined, see above). Colons and semicolons, however, are preceded by quotation marks. If the quoted matter ends with a question mark or exclamation point, it is placed inside the quotation marks: John asked, “When’s dinner?” But if it is the enclosing sentence which asks the question, then the question mark comes after the quotation marks: What did she mean, John wondered, by saying “as soon as you make it”? Similarly: Fred shouted, “Look out for the bull!” but When I was subsequently gored, all Timmy said was “this is kinda boring”! file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/quotation_marks.html (2 sur 3)03/09/2005 15:39:33 quotation marks Finally, I must lament that many standard character sets, including ASCII and basic HTML, lack true quotation marks which curl to enclose the quoted matter, substituting instead ugly “inch” or “ditto” marks. Some browsers can translate the code for a true quotation mark (and true, curled apostrophes), but many cannot. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/quotation_marks.html (3 sur 3)03/09/2005 15:39:33 racism RACISM The “C” in “racism” and “racist” is pronounced as a simple “S” sound, Don’t confuse it with the “SH” sound in “racial." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/racism.html03/09/2005 15:39:33 rack/wrack RACK/WRACK If you are racked with pain or you feel nerve-racked, you are feeling as if you were being stretched on that Medieval instrument of torture, the rack. You rack your brains when you stretch them vigorously to search out the truth like a torturer. “Wrack” has to do with ruinous accidents, so if the stock market is wracked by rumors of imminent recession, it’s wrecked. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/rack.html03/09/2005 15:39:33 ran/run RAN/RUN Computer programmers have been heard to say “the program” s been ran,” when what they mean is “the program” s been run." List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ran.html03/09/2005 15:39:34 rapport RAPPORT Many more people hear this word, meaning “affinity,” than read it, judging by the popularity of various popular misspellings such as "rapore” and “rapoire.” If you get along really well with someone, the two of you have rapport. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/rapport.html03/09/2005 15:39:35 ratio RATIO A ratio is a way of expressing the relationship between one number and another. If there is one teacher to fifty students, the teacher/student ratio is one to fifty, and the student/teacher ratio fifty to one. If a very dense but wealthy prince were being tutored by fifty teachers, the teacher/student ratio would be fifty to one, and the student/teacher ratio would be one to fifty. As you can see, the order in which the numbers are compared is important. The ratios discussed so far are “high"—the difference between the numbers is large. The lowest possible ratio is one to one: one teacher to one student. If you are campaigning for more individual attention in the classroom, you want a higher number of teachers, but a lower student/teacher ratio. List of errors file:///C|/Temp/livres/commonerrors/errors/ratio.html03/09/2005 15:39:35