The Style Book of The Detroit News Part 16

Don't write _better half_ for _wife_.

Do not write that a thing _grows smaller_.

We write _wages are_. The biblical phrase is, _The wages of sin is death_.

Don't write _the three first_. You mean _the first three_.

A _justice_ presides in police court, in justice court and in the supreme court. A _judge_ presides in other courts except the recorder's court, which is presided over by the _recorder_ and his a.s.sociate.

Justices of the supreme court of the states and the nation are referred to as _Mr. Justice Jones_ or _Chief Justice White_.

Avoid the hackneyed phrase, _a miraculous escape_.

It is almost an unbreakable rule that reporters and copy readers shall verify all quotations. Many of the most familiar phrases are popularly misquoted.

Don't write _the above statement_ or _the statement given above_. It may not be _above_ when it gets into the paper. Write _the foregoing statement_.

Don't use _about_ meaning _approximately_ except with round numbers. Do not write _about 27 cents_ or _about 12 minutes after 8 o'clock_, but write _about $10_ or _about 10,000 persons_.

Don't confuse _O_ and _Oh_. The former is the formal spelling of the interjection and is used usually in poetry, as, _Sail on, O s.h.i.+p of State!_ It is used in supplication, as, _O G.o.d, hear our prayer!_ The _Oh_ spelling is that commonly used, as, _Oh, dear_; _Oh, what shall I do?_ It is usually written with a comma.

DANA'S EIGHT RULES

Charles A. Dana's eight rules for the guidance of a newspaper man are:

1. Get the news, all the news, and nothing but the news.

2. Copy nothing from another publication without giving perfect credit.

3. Never print an interview without the knowledge and consent of the party interviewed.

4. Never print a paid advertis.e.m.e.nt as news matter. Let every advertis.e.m.e.nt appear as an advertis.e.m.e.nt; no sailing under false colors.

5. Never attack the weak and defenseless, either by argument, by invective, or by ridicule, unless there is some absolute public necessity for so doing.

6. Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the whole truth or the only truth.

7. Support your party, if you have one; but do not think that all the good men are in it or all the bad ones outside.

8. Above all, believe that humanity is advancing, that there is progress in human affairs, and that as sure as G.o.d lives the future will be better than the past or present.

+-----------------------------------------+ ... PROMOTER OF CIVIC WELFARE AND CIVIC PRIDE ... BOND OF CIVIC UNITY ... PROTECTOR OF CIVIC RIGHTS. +-----------------------------------------+

THE CANNERY

Dean Alford says: "Be simple, be unaffected, be honest in your speaking and writing. Call a spade a spade, not a well known oblong instrument of manual husbandry. Elegance of language may not be in the power of all of us, but simplicity and straightforwardness are."

Many pages would be required to list all the so-called bromides that have been worn threadbare by constant use and abuse in newspapers. Often these phrases are used to avoid what the writer believes to be annoying repet.i.tion. It is better to use the word _fire_ many times in a paragraph than to use the word _conflagration_ once.

So many phrases have become hackneyed in newspapers that the comic magazines make jokes about them. This is from Puck:

A NEWSPAPER DICTIONARY

=Appropriate Exercises.=--What the celebration opened with.

=Good-Natured Crowd.=--People out on election night.

=Firm, Clear Tones.=--What the bride uttered the responses in.

=Heart of the Business Section.=--District threatened by fire. (See =under control=.)

=Land Office Business.=--What the charity bazaar did. (See =pretty girls=.)

=Luscious Bivalve.=--What the pearl was found in. (See =poor shoemaker=.)

=Musical Circles.=--What the hostess is prominent in. (See =artistic interpretation=.)

=Pool of Blood.=--What the body was lying in.

=Sensational Failure.=--A Wall street bankruptcy.

=Trojans.=--What the men were working like.

=Undercurrent of Excitement.=--Something that ran through the audience.

(See =tense moment=.)

=Well-Known Southern Family.=--What the bridegroom is a member of.

Avoid such phrases as:

burly Negro smoking revolver cheered to the echo in durance vile herculean efforts it goes without saying limps into port daring robber bolt from a clear sky facile pen breathless silence crisp bill grim reaper dusky damsel tonsorial parlor vale of tears denizens of the deep finny tribe knights of the grip like rats in a trap speculation is rife for 10 long years severed his connection (say _he quit_) solon probe city father leave no stone unturned whipped out a gun old Sol fair Luna Dan Cupid Dame Fas.h.i.+on milady Jupiter Pluvius affixed his signature vast concourse edifice was consumed infuriated animal summoned a physician busy marts of trade breakneck speed high dudgeon fragrant Havana divine pa.s.sion city bastile immaculate linen minions of the law rash act never in the history of sad rites tidy sum light collation pale as death totally destroyed news leaked out rooted to the spot war to the knife fair s.e.x white as a sheet to the bitter end well-known clubman pillar of the church large and enthusiastic audience natty suit giant pachyderm swathed in bandages tiny tots checkered career angry mob dull, sickening thud foeman worthy of his steel great beyond downy couch toothsome viands

Study of a thesaurus--there is one in the library--will enlarge the vocabulary and help the writer to rid himself of these trite phrases.

How fresh words may give life to a piece of writing is shown in the chapter in this book on the use of adjectives.

CLARITY, FORCE, GRACE

"Of the three generally recognized qualities of good style--clarity, force and grace--it is the last and the last alone in which critics of newspaper English find their material," reads an editorial in the New York Evening Post. "Beauty, grace, suggestion of that final touch which confers on its object the immortality of perfect art, are nearly always conspicuously absent."