Q. Can you please help settle a disagreement? In the following sentence, should “instead of” be replaced with “rather than”? Overpayments occurred because facility purchased care staff processed payments using the local VA Fee schedule instead of the technical component of RBRVS.
A. Let me get this straight: in that nearly unreadable sentence (“because facility purchased care staff processed payments”?), the disagreement centers on whether to use “instead of” or “rather than”? (Oh, wait—I see from your email address that this is a government office.) Replace the phrase if you are certain that (1) there is a significant difference in meaning, and (2) the current wording does not express the meaning intended. If you cannot reach agreement on these points, you might have to fund a study.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. My friend Ed says that there is a problem with the sentence “An error occurred while processing your request.” More specifically, he says that it sounds like the error is processing the request. Do you see what he is talking about? Is this a legitimate criticism? The sentence in question is a common message from computer systems, and when we asked around, no one could see a problem with it. I wondered if there might be some underlying grammatical exception that explained why the message seemed so clear (despite the error Ed perceived). But I guess it is just one of those things that people understand unambiguously because of its context.
A. Ed is right about there being a grammar problem, because there is no word in the sentence that tells who is processing, and the best candidate is error. Consider this: if you read “A bird sang while flying by your window,” you understand it to mean “A bird sang while [it, the bird, was] flying by your window.” The grammar is the same in “An error occurred while [it, the error, was] processing your request.” It’s true that people generally understand this construction from its context without perceiving it as an error. The danger is when language like this is used to dodge responsibility for an action. It’s more honest to clean up the grammar and name the actor: “An error occurred while we were processing your request.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Under what circumstances should “per annum” be used preferentially to “per year”? Do they have different meanings or are they interchangeable?
A. They have the same meaning, but “per annum” is fancier.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is it acceptable for the subject of a sentence to use “(s)” to indicate a possibility of plurality? If so, should the verb that follows be singular or plural? The attached form(s) indicates the required accounts or The attached form(s) indicate the required accounts?
A. The “(s)” construction works only when the noun in question is not the subject of a sentence. Instead, you can use the plural alone, which we usually understand to include the possibility of a singular meaning: The attached forms indicate the required accounts. Or, if you don’t think that’s clear enough, be more explicit: One or more attached forms indicate the required accounts. Or you can rewrite to cast the “(s)” word as something other than the subject of the sentence: Required accounts are indicated by the attached form(s).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m editing a business document that explains how to use an advertising report. The word geographies is used as a noun and as a synonym for regions. For example, “Identify geographies that yield better results.” The dictionary doesn’t help. In general, how can an editor determine if a jargon word is a good candidate for a company style guide, or if the word is simply silly and should be replaced?
A. Much of the time, a nonspecialist editor should not decide. Instead, query. You can ask, “OK to replace geographies with regions, or is geographies the current industry lingo?” (It’s best to resist phrases like “simply silly.”)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Where in the manual will I find guidance to answer the question whether the adverb structurally in the phrase “structurally modify or upgrade” qualifies only the verb modify or both the verbs modify and upgrade? I have looked at chapter 5 but don’t perceive the guidance I need.
A. Alas—the great and powerful manual cannot tell you what this writer was thinking. The only way to know for sure is to ask him or her. If you don’t have access to the writer, then you will have to settle for ambiguity. If you need to know the exact meaning because you’re involved in a lawsuit whose outcome depends on the technical meaning of this phrase, you’re at the mercy of the judge. If you are the judge, well, good luck.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I have always changed cf. to see since CMOS states that it means “to confer; compare.” Of course, I query whether the author really does mean “compare,” but the majority of the time they mean to say “see.” Someone tells me that their dictionary says it is often used to mean “see also.” This doesn’t seem right to me—it’s an abbreviation for a Latin term; how can a dictionary change an actual meaning?
A. Dictionaries are not in the business of changing meanings: rather, lexicographers collect evidence on how people use words, and when a word is used pervasively and persistently to mean something, they list that meaning in the dictionary. After all, if you don’t know the meaning of a word, what good is it if the dictionary lists only the original, perhaps outdated meanings? You need to know what it means now.
That a meaning is listed in a dictionary doesn’t mean that the editors of the dictionary have put some stamp of approval or acceptance on it. Rather, they are stating a fact: this is one meaning of this word, a meaning documented by research and observation. Readers must decide whether that use is appropriate.
For a long time now, scholars have been using cf. to mean see also, and if the dictionary says that this is what readers now understand by it, I suppose many editors must be letting it stand.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In my journalism days, I was taught that the following type of sentence is a non sequitur. I see it more and more these days. What do you think? “A software developer with fifteen years of experience, Sally’s passion is creating quality products.”
A. In my apprentice days, I was taught that such a sentence contains a “dangler.” Unless Sally has a passion for an experienced software developer who is creating quality products, it would be better to eliminate the dangler and clarify.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am now happily retired from a career in estate planning. Over the years, both clients and other practitioners have consistently used the word gift as a verb, as in “I want to gift my house to my daughter.” This seems awfully stilted. Is there something wrong with the word give?
Q. A number of my friends and colleagues now use invite as a noun, as in “send him an invite.” I think it’s pretty lazy usage when the perfectly good word invitation is available. Am I just an old crank who doesn’t like change?
A. In both cases, the usages you frown on have been around for centuries, according to Merriam-Webster. Language fluctuates; words come in and out of favor; regionalisms spread quickly. When a wording strikes you as strange or trendy, take a moment to investigate its credentials; even if you choose not to adopt the usage yourself, maybe it will help you be more accepting when others use it.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Our editing department is stumped! Would you say “There are an infinite amount of critical values” or “There is an infinite amount of critical values”?
A. Neither. The word amount is normally used only with singular noncount nouns. You have a number or quantity of Xs, but an amount of X (singular): a large amount of cash, a small amount of pride, a piddling amount of rain, but an infinite number of critical values.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]