YALP...

[gnomi]

...this one because of a question posed by the lovely and talented byrne:

[Poll #801524]

Comments

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

actually, i usually say "g'night." being all casual and suchlike. ;)

and i go to strunk&white if i have a simple/stupid question, chicago manual of style if what's bugging me is more arcane. these days, my questions have been mostly arcane.

[xochitl42.livejournal.com]

But y'know, Chicago kills me by promoting the /s's/ thing. Like: "Iris's book." Gives me the willies.

I do agree with you on S&W for simpler queries and Chicago on more arcane.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

ah, see i don't consider "apostrophe-ess" questions to be arcane. so i go to S&W for it, thus sidestepping my (same as yours!) disagreement with Chicago entirely. ;)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the s' thing. See last week's possessives poll. :-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

The press I work for has S&W as its home style guide. Alas, it doesn't have answers to many of the things I come up against. I then go to, in order, Garner, Chicago, and Bill Walsh (Lapsing into a Comma and The Elephants of Style). Usually Garner has an answer for me.

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

Nomi, what's your ISBN? I want to list you in the comments as my favorite style guide.

Of course, each publication has its own preferences, which may or may not be related to grammar at all.

And have you read Mr Norrell and dr. Strange? Am reading it right now and have it up to HERE with all the willful misspellings: Chuse for Choose, Surprize throughout -- I've made it 100 pages and am not sure if I can endure the rest.

perhaps the author is crunchy and good with ketchup.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I haven't yet read Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell. Though folks tell me I should.

Alas, I have no ISBN. :-)

[xochitl42.livejournal.com]

perhaps the author is crunchy and good with ketchup.

Maybe, but you know he probably spells it "catsup."

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

*Groans*

[tiptoe39.livejournal.com]

Words Into Type, AP, and Chicago as a triumverate.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could work with that.

[perpet.livejournal.com]

I couldn't answer the guide/style question because I don't have a preference, nor do I have any idea what it would be, as I've not used any style guides.

I'm a terrible grammar nerd.

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

actually, i suspect that if you went to chicago grammarians, they would insist on -not- having commas at the end of the selections in your last question, since they might see the list as essentially being bulleted points. i like chicago. but then, i like "s's" at the ends of non-plurals, because that's the way i pronounce them. but then, i'm a hick from kentucky.

curse you and your ketchup reference: now i want french fries.

[kalessin.livejournal.com]

In person, I say, "G'night!", but in writing I say, "Good night."

With regard to stylebook, I started in 7th grade with Strunk & White, and added Chicago Manual of Style a little later. When I worked at the UMass Boston school newspaper, I picked up a lot from the New York Times stylebook.

Using only Strunk & White as the house stylebook is probably a bit myopic; modern usage has evolved a little since then, and its coverage of usage and grammar isn't exhaustive.

[kalessin.livejournal.com]

(Grrr, I want to be able to edit comments, I meant "modern usage has evolved a little since it was written".)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Well, the press uses S&W as its base but has a home-grown style guide that covers stuff that S&W doesn't (revisions to which I have to put closer to the top of my to-do list one of these days). S&W is limited, which is why we've got the supplementary doc.

I've heard good things about the NYT stylebook. I should get a copy for my shelf o'usage guides one of these days.

[zsero.livejournal.com]

The Australian Government Publishing Office style guide. Sorry, no ISBN, and my copy is in a box in my parents' shed, where it has lain untouched for 12 years...

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

My favorite is Words Into Type - ISBN 0-13-964262-5 (though I imagine there must be a newer edition by now).

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Just went and looked it up on Amazon; apparently a lot of other people think so, too...

[angwantibo.livejournal.com]

How about "Night y'all!"?