Q. Is it ever okay to use further to denote a greater distance? I know that farther is technically correct for this scenario, but I also know that this distinction is fairly recent, and that some great writers
have used further to denote a greater distance.
A. Thank you for another opportunity to promote dictionaries as terrific resources for finding out the meanings of words. Webster’s 11th Collegiate gives farther as the first meaning of further. Under the word farther the dictionary explains: “Farther and further have been used more or less interchangeably throughout most of their history, but currently they are showing signs of diverging.
As adverbs they continue to be used interchangeably whenever spatial, temporal, or metaphorical distance is involved. But
where there is no notion of distance, further is used: ‘Our techniques can be further refined.’ ”
Q. I wonder which you think is best: Key Lime pie, Key lime pie, or key lime pie?
A. I’m actually partial to pecan, but if you’re asking about spelling, consult a
dictionary: Webster’s 11th Collegiate prefers lowercasing, noting that “Key” is often capped.
Q. Please help me! I am arguing with my publisher. I say that “back seat” is correct,
and she says it’s “backseat.” Please tell me which is correct,
and thank you.
A. A publisher and a writer who between them can’t find a dictionary? Webster’s 11th Collegiate says “backseat.”
Q. In two different writers’ group meetings, two writers told me that “OK”
should be spelled “okay.” Both said it was because that’s
what Chicago Manual of Style calls for, but I can’t find this in CMOS. My training (newspaper, mind you, so AP style) is to use first-listed spelling, and “OK”
is first-listed in every dictionary I checked. Has Chicago ever specified “okay,”
or are these ladies confusing their publishers’ house styles with that of CMOS?
A. CMOS doesn’t specify, but as it happens, the manual uses “OK”
twice (at 2.66 and 7.48; 2.113 doesn’t count) and does not use “okay”
at all. The Q&A uses both spellings. (You can learn all this by typing the words into the Search box at CMOS Online. ) We follow Webster’s 11th Collegiate , which puts “OK” as the first spelling—but that does not
mean it is preferred. Rather, “okay” is an equal variant (also standard). Your
writer friends are misguided, in any case. It’s rarely wrong to use an accepted spelling. Consistency
within a document can be assured by using a style sheet.
Q. I am copyediting an article about a brand of software. The article repeatedly uses the term dialog, but Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary prefers the spelling dialogue. However, the software uses dialog in all its documentation. Which spelling does CMOS prefer in this case? Thank you.
A. M-W shows dialog as a “secondary variant,” which means that it is standard English and may be used according to preference. Typing dialogue into the CMOS Search box, I see that CMOS happens to use that form. If a writer prefers dialog for a good reason, however (such as that it’s standard parlance in techspeak), an editor who changes it should have an even better reason, since it is not incorrect.
Chicago Style Q&A: New Questions and Answers
