Q. I have always been taught that there are two ways to spell dietitian (or dietician), but that the correct style is with a
t not a c. A friend of mine disagrees completely and feels that dietitian is the wrong spelling and therefore should never be used.
Another friend of mine says that dietitians spell it with a t. I am really curious. . . . What is the correct spelling?
A. I would look it up in the dictionary for you—but then I’d have to do it for everyone.
(Let me know what you find out!)
Q. What exactly does the phrase “in terms of” mean? I hear it used constantly, but
try to avoid using it myself. I think it’s a trite phrase that doesn’t actually
mean anything or have any purpose except to annoy me, actually. I know you’ve used it before, but what’s
the best way to avoid using such a common phrase? I want to include it in my company’s style guide as
a phrase not to use, and would like to offer an alternative. I’ve used “as far
as” but I don’t like that either.
A. Dictionaries are good at answering questions about meanings. Webster’s 11th Collegiate says “in terms of” means “with respect to”
or “in relation to” and gives the example “He thinks of
everything in terms of money.” I know that sometimes we fixate on phrases that sound like just so much
throat-clearing or blather, but we probably wouldn’t be comfortable either if everyone wrote and spoke
with perfectly stripped-down precision. Although little transitions like “in terms of”
might be eliminated or reduced to monosyllables, they can also add rhythm or just stall for time. In the Webster’s example, the phrase is doing honest work; I can’t think of a better way to express the point. It would
be a shame to banish the phrase in your style book. I hope as a general policy you’ll keep the prohibitions
to a minimum. Writers need flexibility to produce clear and elegant writing.
Q. For those who make a hobby of cruising garage sales, are they going “garage sale-ing,”
“garage saling,” or “garage saleing?”
Or are they not permitted this usage?
A. Oh, my. Is garage saleing anything like parasailing? The mind boggles. As you suspected, this phrase would not survive the
red pencil at Chicago. (Why can’t you just go to garage sales?) I can tell you that suffixes like “ing”
don’t normally take a hyphen. After that, you’re on your own.
Q. With respect to insurance claims, which is the preferred usage, “payer” or “payor”?
They appear to each be legitimate. Webster’s refers to “payor”
as a variant of “payer,” but usage of “payor”
is commonplace within the industry as well. Any definitive help is appreciated.
A. Although it’s flattering to think that you might take our word over Webster’s, we in fact defer to that authority. Since “payer” and “payor”
are variants in Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate, that’s good enough for us. (But we usually go for the first-listed variant.)
Q. I would like to know if a rule exists for the use of “all” and “all
of.” Which of these sentences is correct: All the employees submitted vacation requests OR All of the
employees submitted vacation requests? Thanks for your help.
A. Chicago style deletes the “of” whenever possible (see 5.220, s.v. “all
(of)”). Dictionaries are great for figuring out what words mean. Look up “all”
and you’ll learn that it can be used as an adjective modifying a subject (“all
employees”) or as a pronoun subject, which can be modified by a prepositional phrase (“of
the employees”). When you write “all the employees,” the
latter construction is at work; the “of” is silent but understood.
Q. Is it “cell phone” or “cel phone”?
I am working on a crash deadline, and would appreciate a quick response. Thank you so much!
A. Any writer who has deadlines should also have a dictionary. I always swear I’m not going to look up
words for people, but it’s like being a mom and picking up socks—something just
makes me do it. It’s “cell phone.”
Please buy a dictionary—and pick up your socks.
Q. Dictionary.com defines “teleconference” as “a conference
held among people in different locations by means of telecommunications equipment, such as closed-circuit television.”
Would that mean that “teleconference call” is not as redundant as it seems? If
we offer a teleconference via telephone only, would it be prudent to add “call”
to the marketing collateral in order to avoid being pressed to provide a videoconference in fulfillment of our contract? Thank
you.
A. It’s always smart to be clear in a contract. Why not say “telephone conference”?
Q. “School-age” or “school-aged”: the
two seem to be used interchangeably.
Q. I can’t find a clear answer regarding “oversize” vs. “oversized”
and similar terms.
Q. Are “more than” and “over” interchangeable
when writing about quantities?
A. Questions like these are frequently asked but rarely answered in this space because they’re so easy
to check in a dictionary. Perhaps because of the ready availability of online resources, we often forget about the humble
desk dictionary, or, for those who require more flash, its online version. (Answers: school-age; it doesn’t
matter; and yes, although sticklers might disagree.)
Q. I am trying to find the definition of “roman style” as contrasted with “Times
New Roman.”
A. “Roman style” means regular (not italic) type. It can be in any typeface (or
“font”). Times New Roman is the name of a typeface, which can appear in roman,
italic, bold, and other styles. In CMOS you can find a definition of roman type in the glossary (appendix B).
Q. My fashion expert daughter insists that denim does not go with “almost anything,”
as I say it does. What is your opinion? Does denim match almost anything, including other colors and other fabrics, e.g.,
silk?
A. Finally, a real style question! If only we Chicago manuscript editors were a little more fashion-forward . . .
Chicago Style Q&A: New Questions and Answers
