The Style Files
My thoughts on design, writing and entrepreneurship.
Photo credit (background): www.pexels.com
Photo credit (background): www.pexels.com
Some trends are better left alone. The year has barely begun and is off to a rocky start. While we continue to grapple with Covid and attacks on the government, far lesser annoyances have crossed the threshold in 2021, as well. Here is a look at some of my latest pet peeves as they relate to botched writing trends.
In the first example, I'd like to harken back to dashes. There are many different types of dashes and debate over their respective use even among professionals. (Those are the joys of writing in a language without a single standard version.) However, what I have in mind today is the em-dash so named for its length spanning the letter m. The em-dash is used to add emphasis and flair as well as a literary pause of sorts. It's sometimes also used to add extra information to a sentence much in the same way that commas or parentheses would. I must admit I'm a fan of the em-dash—it really is a versatile punctuation mark! The only problem is when people use it incorrectly. This becomes an even greater problem when the issue of correct or incorrect is up for debate since writing is somewhat subject in nature. What I mean to say is that the em-dash is like a feather boa of a sentence. It's candy in your school lunch or the scarf of an outfit. It certainly adds a certain something and it's hard to resist. However, there IS such a thing as eating too much candy as anyone who has lived through Halloween can attest. The problem with an em-dash is you can also overdo it to a nauseating degree. I've been noticing a mildly upsetting trend for over a year to use em-dashes with reckless abandon. It's not cute and will not make your writing appear glamorous or polished. If anything, your writing will look amateur and cheap like it's desperately seeking attention. It might even look like you've plucked your punctuation at random from a giant magician's hat since an em-dash is meant to be used sparingly for full effect. Here's how NOT to do it—multiple times within a sentence or paragraph. An em-dash is elegant—regal, even—but absurd in the wrong context. Overdoing it is easy—and costly to your writing—so proceed with caution if you'd rather not look like the mad hatter of ad copy. While I'm at it, it's worth mentioning that an em-dash really doesn't belong in every paragraph regardless of the circumstances. Just don't. Please don't include it in every one of your titles unless you're the type of writer hoping to be confused for an AI bot. Mass producing the same format makes writing read mechanical and disengaged so try putting a little spring in your step for your audience's enjoyment. My next complaint is the poorly translated sentence. I guess that's less of a trend and more of a staple but it's worth griping about all the same. Granted, people outside of the translation industry may be less sensitive to that offense but shouldn't we want to make writing sound natural and normal as a general rule? To be more specific, I'm having a real issue with German sentences translated like a million little boxes in English. Those of you familiar with German writing may sympathize. (For that matter, anyone who has heard the stereotypes might even know what I mean since overly complex and technical writing fits the script of a left-brained, rule-abiding person.) It's not a good look no matter which way you slice it. My guess is these translations were never proofread by native speakers, at least not prior to publishing. Isn't that the mistake we should all avoid? They tend to have commas galore, all in the most unnecessary and awkward of places, fifteen adjectives where one or two would suffice and tread heavy on substance. Such is German writing. It's just not okay to smack it into a printing press and call it a day for English audiences since writing is far more than a 1:1 exchange. Last but not least, I'll leave you with an obvious yet pervasive mistake. How many times do I have to read FAQ's on the website of a multimillion dollar company? Can none of their employees read? There is no apostrophe. I can even begrudgingly accept FAQ while assuming questions is most likely plural. For the life of me, I can't deal with is using apostrophes willy-nilly when anyone who lived through the 90s (or the second grade, even) should realize that NO APOSTROPHE IS REQUIRED. That just about wraps it up for the first half of the first month of our gamble of a new year. There's no end in sight to examples of how not to write so let it be known that that's not my final word on the subject. Stay tuned for more cathartic rants in the weeks and months to follow!
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AuthorHi, my name is Martha Oschwald and I'm a content writer focused on design. This page is meant to give you a taste of my writing style and latest musings. Archives
April 2022
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