The Turner Ink blog contains rants, bloopers, observations and opinions. It also has handy tips on grammar and punctuation such as colons: semicolons; and full stops. As well as some very useful ‘how tos’. Feel free to leave comments. Be nice though.

Turner Ink

Copywriting Services London

Posts tagged 'american spelling'

Is it enquiry or inquiry?

25th
Jan
by Sarah Turner

Iraq Inquiry logoI was watching some of the Iraq Inquiry last week. And it got me thinking: when do we use inquiry and when do we use enquiry? A quick search online reveals that some institutions use both (yes, I’m talking about you Evening Standard).

However, it’s generally considered that enquire is the British spelling and inquire the US spelling. But as we can see from the Iraq Inquiry that’s not strictly true.

In fact, we use both spellings in the UK.

Enquiry means to request information or to look into.

I received an enquiry from a journalist.
He enquired about my health.
We need to make some enquiries and get back to you.

Inquiry is used for official investigations.

The police will launch an official inquiry into the riot.
The Iraq Inquiry is taking place in London.

 


Tags: american spelling
Posted in Grammar tips, Word stuff | comments icon 1 Comment »

What’s the difference between e.g. and i.e.?

14th
Oct
by Sarah Turner

Yes, there is a difference. And, no, they’re not interchangeable.

E.g. is short for exempli gratia. Yes, it’s Latin and it means for example. So how is it used?

Try and visit some galleries when you’re in Paris e.g. (or for example) the Musee d’Orsay or the Louvre.

Use easy to read fonts on your website e.g. (or for example) Verdana

Remember: what follows an e.g. is an excerpt from a list or a larger chunk of information. So there’s no need to put an etc. at the end as well.

I.e. is short for id est and means that is or in other words. It’s used like this:

We’re going to run the same advertisement from last summer i.e. (or in other words) the one with the cat in it.

We’ll give you your usual discount i.e. (or in other words) 10%.

E.g. and i.e. always have full stops. And in the US a comma is often used after the abbreviation:

Use easy to read fonts on your website e.g., (or for example) Verdana

How do you remember which one to use? E.g.  means ‘EGsample’. And i.e. means ‘InEtherwords’. Yeah, yeah I know it’s a bit juvenile but, trust me, it works.


Tags: american spelling, latin
Posted in Grammar tips | comments icon 2 Comments »

Licence or license to thrill?

11th
Jan
by Sarah Turner

Ok, this one gets me running for the dictionary every time: when to use licence and license or practice and practise.

Practice with a C is a noun. And practise with an S is a verb. (S and V are close together in the alphabet which is a good way of remembering, I guess.) So,

There’s a new doctor’s practice opened up near me
He runs a legal practice

The girl practised her piano playing
We need to practise our free kicks

And the same goes for licence and license. Licence with a C is a noun. And license with an S is a verb. So,

I need a television licence
I’ve got my driver’s licence with me

You are licensed to run this bar
How to become a licensed contractor

Of course just to confuse matters our pals across the pond use practice with a C for the noun and the verb and license with an S for the noun and the verb.

In fact when the James Bond movie Licence to Kill came out in 1989 the US studio wanted to change it to the American spelling, license. But (I’m pleased to say) the Brits said no. Rather amusingly the original title of the movie was Licence Revoked but a survey showed that 50% of Americans didn’t know what revoked meant. I’m saying nothing.


Tags: american spelling
Posted in Grammar tips | comments icon No comments yet »

 

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