18 Feb 2003 | Luke said...

As a Canadian who writes, I often find myself straddling the gulf between American and British usage. I thought I'd point out that the Economist Style Guide favours (favors) British usage, which can be surprisingly different. An American writer who wrote about rearing children, flats for let and cars for hire would only obfuscate his point. Then again, so too would the writer who overuses the word "obfuscate."

One area they mention is making use of adjectives for proper nouns; write "American policy," not "U.S. policy." This reminds me of one my least favourite practices in contemporary writing: the use of "women" as an adjective. This seems to occur most commonly before a profession dominated by men, as in "women police" and "women politics."

Not only does this smack of over-sensitivity, it ignores the correct adjective: "female." "Police" on its own is an abstract noun, like "water" or "hair." Doesn't "women hair" sound silly? How about "heat water"?

We used to write "policemen," but the need for both gender-specific and gender-neutral terminology has made that term obsolete. But what is wrong with "female police officers" or "police-women"?

18 Feb 2003 | hurley#1 said...

I have an older version of the Economist style guide that I bought in 1992, and it's interesting to note the things they've changed since then. In particular, they've gone wishy-washy on "which" versus "that." They still use the wonderfully succinct "which informs, that defines," but now they've added a disclaimer that "good writers of British English are less fastidious" about the distinction. Harrumph! I've spent probably half my editing life changing errant whiches to thats, and no longer can I point to the Economist when correcting my British friends on their misusage. Just because 99.9% of British writers use "which" when they mean "that" doesn't make them right!

19 Feb 2003 | alisha said...

great tip!

"I've spent probably half my editing life changing errant whiches to thats,"

appearantly, americans are horrible at thats and whiches. I know I am.

"This seems to occur most commonly before a profession dominated by men, as in "women police" and "women politics.""

so what do you say? female politics? politcs with ----? This is what happens when the female and male form gets lost in language - but theyre also a pain in the ass. I get them wrong all the time in german. I like when germans translate "wife" into "woman" and vise versa. they say "my woman" about thier wife (meine frau) and "a wife" about any woman (eine frau). sounds really good for feminists. :-)

19 Feb 2003 | hurley#1 said...

The French word for "wife" is the same as "woman," too (femme). But what I don't like, here in Quebec anyway, is that the term for "my girlfriend" is "ma blonde," no matter what color her hair is. I just can't bring myself to use that term, it seems so degrading.

19 Feb 2003 | Luke said...

I wouldn't write "female politics" anymore than I'd write "women politics" because I don't think such a thing really exists. It's a lazy term. Women aren't a single political entity, and they don't have a cohesive political voice. They're also half the frickin' population. If the need is really there though, I think "women's politics" is the most elegant. Depending on the context, "women in politics" or "women and politics" may also do the job nicely.

By the way, Hurley#1, I live in Quebec too, and ever since moving here five years ago or so, I've wondered about "ma blonde" and its origins. In light of the strong feminist component of Quebec society (since the Quiet Revolution anyhow), I find it curious that such a term has become part of the vernacular. Moreover, Quebec has a relative lack of blonde people compared to the rest of North America. :)

19 Feb 2003 | hurley#1 said...

Actually I think the term "ma blonde" came over from France, though I don't believe it's used there anymore. My girlfriend is from Brittany and sings traditional music from the French-speaking region in the south; one of the old songs she sings refers to "ma blonde."

Probably it's one of those many archaic French terms that have hung on in Quebec from the original settlers but have disappeared or evolved to mean something else in France, like "breuvage" (a beverage in Quebec, a witch's brew in France), "char" (automobile in Quebec, chariot or wagon in France).

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