Earlier this summer we read with interest how MP Jacob Rees Mogg has issued a set of rules to his staff… not around actions or behaviour but around grammar!
It’s fascinating thought for a day and age when the English language appears to be slipping into a much less formal form, with urban slang infiltrating from every direction. And that’s probably why Mr Rees Mogg feels the need to get it all down in writing, in an attempt to claw back some formality back!
Let’s highlight just a few of the rules that he lists, and we’ll tell you how we feel about them!
- Organisations are singular – absolutely. This is one we come across quite often when we’re transcribing. When you compare the two it makes sense too as the plural version doesn’t seem quite right: “John Lewis is launching their new Autumn range” vs “John Lewis are launching their new Autumn range”.
- All non-titled males should be referred to with the suffix “Esq” – now this one could be perceived as being more ‘stuffy’ and perhaps inncecessary. Back in the early 20th century, it came to be used as a general courtesy title for any man in a formal setting, but its use has very much dwindled over recent decades.
- No fullstop after the prefix Miss or Ms – this is very much the English version of title abbreviation. In the USA, the opposite is true, which is probably how the use of the fullstop has become a grey area. From our point of view, we’d say it very much depends on who the client is and what they prefer!
- Double space after a fullstop – this is another more old fashioned style choice. In the days where typewriters were de regeur the double space was needed as it delineated the start of a new sentence. This was necessary because the spacing between words was much more uneven on a typewriter. By the 1950s, most house styles for print had dropped the double space and agreed to use a single space. Here at FSTL we’re very traditional and after nearly 30 years in the business, we still use a double space!
- No comma after ‘and’ – this isn’t strictly correct. There are definitely instances where a comma after ‘and’ helps make the sentence read more easily. For example: “Friday is almost here and, unfortunately for those of you who are supersitious, it falls on the 13th!” The comma helps the sentence flow much better.
- Use imperial measurements – a bit of a horses for courses one here! Again for us, it would be based on who the client is and what they want.
- Banned words – these included words such as ‘very, due to, unacceptable, equal, yourself, lot, got, speculate, meet with, ascertain and disappointment’. We notice when we’re transcribing from the spoken word that most of us are guilty of using unnecessary ‘filler’ words, which really don’t add any value to a sentence. One that we always try to edit out in our transcripts is ‘got’, so that’s one we wholeheartedly agree with Mr Rees Mogg on!
So while there are a few in there that are perhaps a little more antiquated, perhaps he’s onto something in his attempts to keep the use of the English language within his office on the straight and narrow?!