Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Can I Get a Vowel? Gray v. Grey

Mary and her colleagues at the Hobart and William Smith Admissions office in Geneva, NY, (my alma mater!) emailed to ask us about the spelling of the word "gray."

"My colleague and I were wondering why some folks spell gray with an "a" and some spell it with an "e" - grey? I looked it up on dictionary.com and it looks like it is interchangeable? Who is correct?"

This is a great question. I called Daniele for confirmation and clarification on the answer:

It turns out that "gray" with an "a" is the usual American spelling of the word. In fact, when I spell-checked my return email to Mary, the software yelled at me for "grey" with an "e." The origin of the "e" verision is British; "grey" is the commonly accepted British spelling.

In every dictionary I've checked, however, it seems as though either spelling is acceptable.

So, I guess the spelling really comes down to a matter of patriotism: "a" for America!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Its versus It's

So I'll admit it: I sent an email yesterday and I used the wrong "its." I was thoroughly embarrassed when I realized my mistake, and so I decided to put up a post explaining the difference for all of us and to encourage me to proofread more carefully next time!

So what is the difference? Let's start with the basics:

it's: With an apostrophe, it is a contraction, either "it is" or "it has."
e.g.: It's too bad I didn't proofread that email!

its: Without an apostrophe, it is a possessive pronoun, that is, a word that replaces a noun and shows ownership.
e.g.: Too bad email can't proofread its own text.

Still having trouble? The easiest way to figure it out is to try substituting in "it is" each time you go to use "its." If "it is" works, then you want the apostrophe. If "it is" doesn't fit, then you don't want the apostrophe.

e.g. It's (it is) a good thing I will proofread this post; it would be bad if the post had its (it is? doesn't work) content wrong!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

National Grammar Day?!

We missed it! But check out this website:

http://nationalgrammarday.com/

With any luck, our little, humble blog will be added to their list soon!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Plagiarism

With all of the recent discussion of plagiarism in politics, online media, and mass publication, we thought it might be useful to remind everyone of what, exactly, plagiarism is:

The Oxford English Dictionary Online defines plagiarism as, "The action or practice of taking someone else's work, idea, etc., and passing it off as one's own; literary theft."

This means that when you write, you must give credit if you borrow ideas or language from someone else. What counts in this? Anything that isn't original to you, or anything that isn't common knowledge. For instance, when we give grammar rules on the side bar, you'll notice we don't cite a source. That is because these rules are (or should be!) common knowledge. However, when we relate a funny story from the news, we always offer the link to the original and the source (website, author as available), because the ideas and the language are not our own.

Notice that plagiarism includes both ideas and exact language. You can't just change the words around and call it your own; you must still give credit to the original author.

What does that mean for the current scandals? Are borrowed speech lines plagiarism? What about using sections of another's work in a publication? And how do the rules vary when we move from the printed media to the internet?

The answer is, it's murky. Any time one borrows, one should give credit to the original author. The current practices in world of blogging and online writing have certainly loosened that rule, however. I know I can at least speak for me and probably for my sister when I say that that doesn't matter, and writing is writing, no matter what the medium. Plagiarism in any form is stealing. (Amen, sister, says Daniele!)

Unfortunately, we see plagiarism all around us. In student papers, it often comes in the form of facts and information lifted from websites. On college campuses, we have witnessed plagiarism scandals involving professors and even college presidents. And in the wider world, every once in a while we see a story about a book that has plagiarized passages, or this week, a White House adviser who plagiarized in newspaper columns.

It is sad. And it is hard, as a teacher, to make students understand the right thing to do, especially when the adults around them are cheating too.

(Here's a link to a PowerPoint presentation Daniele did on plagiarism for faculty at Durham Technical Community College in 2003. As citation rules change frequently, some of the specific details may have changed, but the bulk remains consistent: http://courses.durhamtech.edu/eng041/internetplagiarism_files/frame.htm)


Anyone have any thoughts on this one?