Q. Does one “maximize the total cost of ownership” or “minimize
the total cost of ownership”? This phrase is going to be our service’s tagline
so we need to get it right.
A. If you make the cost of ownership as high as possible, you maximize it; if you make it as low as possible, you minimize it.
Before you decide, you need to be sure which one your service aims to do. And after you decide, if you think it’s
possible that others might be confused about what it means, you should probably keep working on that slogan.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Don’t you think it is improper to use both Porsche and Jimmy Choo as proper nouns (instead of proper
adjectives) in a Q&A about proper writing technique?
A. If you believe that to be proper, writing must be stilted, literal, and driven by specious legal or technical precautions,
then yes, I suppose the answer was improper. (But that’s what we love about the Q&A.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In the sentence “I thought more people would be interested in knowing what happened to XXX, but I see
that his fate, his life, doesn’t seem to bring folks together the way the water did,”
would you use “don’t” instead of “doesn’t”?
Or does that comma after “his life” keep the verb singular? The author will not
tolerate the insertion of “and” between “his life”
and “his fate.”
A. “Doesn’t” is correct, and “and”
would change the meaning of the sentence. “Life” here is a gloss on “fate,”
a parenthetical explanation or extension of it, not an additional item. Your author is right—but you
have left us hanging about the curiously unifying properties of this water.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hello, CMOS Gurus—I cannot seem to locate the rule that proves (or disproves, I guess) the following to be correct:
More than 28 million pounds of scrap is reclaimed every year. I thought that units of measurement or money took a singular
verb, not plural (such as, three million dollars is a lot, or five miles is a long way). Are there other quantities that this
applies to (such as years)? Or am I wrong entirely and should all three of my examples above take a plural verb? —A
stumped copyeditor
A. For measures or money or any other quantities, when the items form a whole that isn’t meant to be divided,
use a singular verb, as you have. When items are meant to be individual and countable, use a plural verb: Five hundred million
Twinkies are produced each year. Since your scrap isn’t being reclaimed one pound at a time, “is”
is the right choice.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Dear CMOS Editor: In my technical publications work group, we have a difference in approach about using the verbs “to
type” and “to enter” when instructing a reader to provide
data to a computer screen interface. “Typed” data is “entered”
to the computer by clicking a named control button such as “OK.” Should a reader
be instructed “Type your password and click OK” or “Enter
your password and click OK”? The Microsoft Manual of Style indicates that “enter” should not be used as a synonym for “type.”
I would appreciate the editing perspective of CMOS.
A. In computer software manuals it might make sense to restrict how a word like “enter”
is used, but I’m afraid CMOS must remain flexible.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Oath of Office. Who was grammatically correct, President Obama or Chief Justice Roberts? Should faithfully as an adverb come at the end of the sentence or after execute? Or is the oath correctly written with faithfully as an adjective before execute?
A. English is relatively fluid with the placement of adverbs, so there are plenty of correct ways to fit faithfully into that sentence, including both of these. In fact, the number of choices makes it harder to remember the traditional word
order—and easier to flub.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. My daughter is filling out a college application that tells her to “write a brief answer (150 words
or less) to both of the following questions.” The two questions are unrelated. We’re wondering
whether to read that as “write 150 or less on each of the questions” or “write 150 words or less on both questions together.”
A. If the wording were each instead of both, the meaning would be clear, but strictly interpreted, the application asks for a single answer that covers both questions.
Given that the questions are unrelated, however, I think the intended meaning is that you should answer both questions, using
up to 150 words for each. (That is, your daughter should. I’m sure that’s what
you meant.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. My colleague and I are editors and are debating the form of the verb in the sentence “As a schematic
design (fig. 1), there are a main reactor for the co-precipitation reaction, a cation reactor for the Ca2+ diffusion, and
an anion reactor for the diffusion of phosphate ions.” I say that the sentence should read, “there
is a main reactor,” but my colleague says there are three items in the list and hence the verb should
take the plural form. Could you please help resolve this debate?
A. Fowler’s Modern English Usage would probably go for “is” (see p. 778, at “there is, there
are”), but your colleague’s argument for “are”
is also reasonable. When a construction starts an argument, you can bet that some readers will object to whatever you decide,
in which case it might be better to fix the problem than to be technically correct. Write “The schematic
design (fig. 1) includes a main reactor . . .”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Should the following sentence use the plural of century? Even in the late third and early fourth century[ies?], military resources were stretched.
Q. Hello, I saw Barack Obama speak and he seemed to make a grammar error. I was wondering if I was missing something. He said,
“President and Mrs. Bush invited Michelle and I to come to the White House.” Another
time he said, “It was for Michelle and I.” Shouldn’t it
be “Michelle and me”? My husband thinks I’m crazy to spend
my time thinking about things like this, but it bothers me.
A. You’re right—I’ve heard Obama say that myself. But you
have to feel for the guy. I’d wager my job that he knows the correct grammar. But he knows that hardly
anyone uses it and that if he does, he’ll sound either incorrect or “elitist.”
What’s a pol to do?
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]