SJC-style-and-production-guide-2012

Vversus This Latin preposition is used often in sports copy. It must be used only as a preposition,never as a verb. Do not write ‘South Sydney will versus Balmain’.verbal nouns Although many nouns have usefully become verbs (‘shop’ – ‘to shop’, ‘ship’ – ‘toship’) and others are sidling in to the written language (‘to lunch’, ‘to video’), writers shouldnot assume the process is universal and automatic. It is not yet possible in Australia to getaway with ‘to impact’, ‘to audience’ or ‘to road’ ‘to partner’.Wwag (n) is a colourful person. Hence waggish. Also wag (v) to absent yourself from school,work etc.wasteful wordsAn important part of clear writing, especially news writing, is economy of words. Writers shouldrigorously check for flabby expressions and usually prefer the concise forms. (See also short vlong and Writing for Broadcast.)Some commonly used wasteful expressions and their preferred forms are:a large proportion of (many, most); as a result (because); at about (at OR about (not both); atthe present time (now); at this point in time (now); black ban (ban); carry out (do); call a halt(stop); constructed of (made of); consult with (consult); continue to remain (stay); exceedingspeed limit (speeding); filled to capacity (full); gain entrance to (enter); gale-force wind (gale);in advance of (before); in attendance at (at); inclement weather conditions (bad weather);in conjunction with (and/or); in consequence of (because in order to, to in the course of, in/during/while); in the early hours of Tuesday morning (early on Tuesday); in the majority ofinstances (mostly); in the vicinity of (near); in view of the fact that (since); is of the opinion(believes); made an approach to (approached); made good their escape (escaped); meetwith (meet); on account of the fact that (because); on the increase (increasing); place underarrest (arrest); preparatory to (before); prior to (before); render assistance (help); sit down(sit); situated at (at); speed up/stand up/wake up (speed/stand/wake); succeeded in defeating(defeated, beat); sustained injuries (was hurt); 12 noon/12 midnight (noon/midnight); takestrike action (strike); visit with (visit); was a witness to (saw); was suffering from (had);wearing apparel (clothes); with the exception of (except).web 2.0 pronounced ‘web two-point-oh’ web interactivity in use since 2004 especially forsocial networking sites, information sharing and games, where readers can write actively onwebsites, in contrast to passive read only applications.Western Australia Not ‘West Australia’. ‘Western Australian’, not ‘West Australian’.where Avoid misuse of the word ‘where’ when ‘at which’, ‘in which’, ‘during which’ or ‘withwhich’ is intended, as in: ‘The meeting where it was discussed’.which and that are generally confused. ‘That’ is used with a defining clause: ‘She finishedwriting the novel that she started last year’ tells us (defines) which novel is being talked about.UQ SJC STYLEBOOK 2012 – PAGE 62