October Education Evening Recap

by Evan Jones, Quill Editor

The first Education Evening of the STC year took a more back-to-basics approach - focusing more on the skill we use to edit documents, and how sometimes grammar trips us up when we try to explain something in writing.

Language is constantly evolving, and sometimes it can leave us wondering which grammar rules remain current and which ones have gone out of use. At school we are often instructed to never split an infinitive or end a sentence with a preposition, so that we believe these are unbreakable rules. Sometimes, however, we must choose which "rules" are suitable for the context and reader.

Alan Yoshioka, our guest speaker for the evening, enthusiastically shared his knowledge and how he has encountered some hilarious examples of grammatical slip-ups. He also delighted the audience with his view on applying such grammar rules in his experience as an editor, and even treated us to a little song about his job as an editor of medical documents.

To explain when to apply grammar rules, Mr. Yoshioka divided them into three categories:

• Hard and Fast Rules: Grammar rules that are clear-cut and are applied to the passage without question. If these rules are not applied, readers have trouble understanding the meaning of the sentence. These rules are always in the grammar books. For example, the verb must always agree with the subject.
• Salad Forks: Rules that many people think are correct, but are unnecessary. The writer must consider what the reader would think of them. For example, if you were to split an infinitive, would the reader question your credibility?
• Hobgoblins: These aren't rules, but generations of children have had them drummed into their heads by generations of parents and teachers. For example, never start a sentence with a conjunction or "because". Teachers usually tell children not to do this because they end up with a sentence fragment, but it's really okay, as long as you write a complete sentence.

To find out more about Alan Yoshioka, you can visit his website at http://www.aysedit.com. He is also a member of the EAC - The Editor's Association of Canada (http://www.editors.ca).