July 2016 Newsletter

July 14, 2016

Dedicated to Black Lives Matter

Street art reads BLACK LIVES MATTER.

I touch upon the language of Black Lives Matter in the upcoming issue of Copyediting (August/September 2016), so now, instead of discussing what others have already discussed so eloquently, I would like to step back and feature their words in this newsletter.

In other news:

In solidarity,

Karen Yin Founder

“If I say ‘Save the whales,’ it does not mean, ‘Screw the eagles.'”

“Why is it degrading in some situations and endearing in others?

 How Gun Culture Permeates Our Everyday Language | Public Radio International

“Have you ever found yourself ‘sweating bullets’ because you were ‘under the gun’ at work? Ever hatched a ‘bulletproof’ plan? Or taken a ‘shot in the dark?’ Told a joke that totally ‘misfired?’ … We’re practically awash in ‘gun speak.'”

“The data are clear: those who acknowledge that discrimination exists and have experienced it themselves think society needs to become more sensitive to people from different backgrounds. Those who haven’t, don’t.”

“Just changing the name makes it so we can’t call it what it is at trial,” [attorney Nana Gyamfi] said. “It would have been a lot different if people on the jury understood what they were looking at was ‘attempted lynching,’ instead of ‘attempted taking someone from the custody of police.’”

“Reappropriation of ethnic and sexual slurs starts as an act of bravado by a few of the oppressed, then may become an empowering mechanism for a much wider community.”—Tony Thorne, curator of the Slang and New Language archive at Kings College

Why conscious language must lead to conscious actions.

“When someone says something you find abhorrent, you have a few options. One is to remain silent, which has not been working for you, one is to attack, one is to question, and one is to simply state what you believe.”

First, “eliminate the word ‘real’ from your vocabulary.”

We’re “sending messages about sex and consent all the time. Because of that, we need to make sure we’re not teaching [our kids] some very dangerous lessons, even if just by accident.”

“If you are in a social situation where you absolutely must introduce people according to their relationships, the safest bet is to ask them how they label themselves.”—Anne Penniston Grunsted

“We need to stop talking about dads like they’re an inept accessory to parenting.”

“I like the freedom and flexibility” and more go-to responses for friends (or strangers) who question your decision to be a freelancer.

“Using ‘crazy’ or ‘insane’ in everyday speech—be it as a throwaway adjective or an insult—can be hurtful to people who live with mental illness.”

Many stores are desegregating the toy aisles. “Even online and clothing retailers are joining the movement. Amazon modified listings so children’s toys aren’t categorized by gender on its website.”

“A study of more than 1,200 state-level ballot questions that voters across the US were asked to approve between 1997 and 2007 found that, on average, they were written at a 17th-grade level…”

After a senior-level review, the Marine Corps will “shift to more gender-neutral names.” “Man” will be replaced by “Marine” in fifteen job titles and will be changed to reflect job specialties (e.g., “antitank gunner” instead of “antitank missleman”) in four others.

“In article after article, Mr. Petraeus was called a ‘general,’ a ‘former commander’ and, as The Times put it, ‘the best-known military commander of his generation.’ The same Times article referred to Ms. Broadwell as ‘the mistress.'”

“Queer was once seen as a slur, and it still is considered a slur for many, but many millennials see it as a liberating word, especially if they don’t identify within the categories of gay or lesbian.”

“As well as simplifying content for readers, writing in plain language can be useful for bringing in more and better search engine traffic.”

“The French-language version of the anthem, which uses different lyrics than its Anglophonic counterpart, is already gender-neutral.”

How to be a good communicator while staying true to yourself—advice from certified life coach Laurie Martin.

“Cybersecurity terms, with their connotations of armed conflict, can make the digital world feel like a scary place, even for those in the profession.”

“According to the website Nonbinary.org, other countries already federally recognize genders other than male and female—including Australia, Denmark, Nepal, and New Zealand.”

Putting legalese in ‪plain language can be fun.

“Research tells us that inclusive work cultures are high performance cultures.”—CEO Lisa Annese, Diversity Council Australia

“[James Sudakow] not only advocates for speaking in plain English for his own sanity but articulates compelling reasons why doing so can have positive impacts on the work you do, the relationships you form, and even counterintuitively can help you be perceived as more credible.”

Passed by a vote of 47-2, an NYC law will require business owners to take down the “men” and “women” signs on one-person bathrooms starting on Jan. 1.

 The Mind: Less Puzzling in Chinese? | The New York Review of Books

“A deeper kind of worry about our fondness for nouns occurs to me: does it happen, perhaps, that speakers of English are drawn to believe that certain things exist because nouns that serve as their labels exist? Might it be only the labels that exist?”—Perry Link, author of “An Anatomy of Chinese”

 Pick the Right Fights | Copyediting

Phrases that copy editors can rely on when pushing an issue.

The Conscious Style Guide newsletter rounds up the best news and blog posts from the world of kind, compassionate, mindful, empowering, respectful, and inclusive language. Note: Spotlighting an opinion is not intended as an endorsement. Please send news tips to [email protected].

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