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Subject:Re: US vs. UK Enlgish From:R2 Innovations <R2innovations -at- MYNA -dot- COM> Date:Sun, 9 May 1999 20:00:27 +0000
Matt Ion recently posted:
<snip>
> Again, not any major differences - an extra comma here and there, perhaps
> ("this, that and the other" in the UK and Canada, vs. "this, that, and the
> other" in the US, for example), but nothing I can think of that would
> significantly alter meaning or hamper readability.
>
I had though it was "this, that and the other" in most parts of the world, what
with everyone wanting to save keystrokes. I have always resisted the
dropping of the comma before the and ("this, that, andthe other") because it
was the _proper_ punctuation to ensure clarity, and I'm a Canadian tech writer.
Like many things in our profession, use either one but be consistent
in their use (I also still like to have two spaces after a period,
except when used in an abbreviation - no don't start another flame
war over this admission!)
Ralph E. Robinson
R2 Innovations
Publisher of "Documenting ISO 9000: Guidelines for
Compliant Documentation", an APEX '98 Award of Excellence
winner.
Visit our website at www.myna.com/~r2innovn/main.htm for
information on implementation and documentation of the
ISO 9000 quality standard.
email: r2innovations -at- myna -dot- com
