Language Logic

Logic uses language, but language is not logical

   Copy editors are the standard-keepers of grammar, spelling, punctuation and usage of language, and style books are the bibles for writers.
   However, just as biblical interpretations change among those who study sacred scriptures, so also do the rules set down in writers' style manuals. The latest example is a report that the Associated Press has changed its stance on the difference between "over" and "more than." After decades of cautioning editors and writers that there is a difference, as in this sentence: "The plane flew over the field of more than ten acres," the AP has apparently  surrendered to common usage.
   Is this a terrible thing? It is to some. To others, however, it is simply another sign of language development and change. What is unacceptable for one generation becomes commonplace in the next, and to insist that there can be only one set of rules, permanent and unalterable, is unrealistic at best and folly to try to resist change.
   Change is inevitable. Meanwhile, there are standards, even as those standards change over time.

   Time was, a preposition was something you should never end a sentence with. And collective nouns always took a singular verb.  Now, a collective noun such as team or crew can take a singular or plural verb depending on whether the members are acting as an organized group or as a bunch of rowdies. This has long been the practice across the pond, but only recently has become routine in America.

   As for style books and the sanctity that some would attribute to them, remember that there are as many style books as there are editors. The Associated Press Style Book is perhaps the most widely used among journalists, but there are many other manuals advocating various standards to be used by writers for dozens -- nay, hundreds -- of formats, both print and electronic.

   For example, which form should be used when dealing with percentages? Should a writer use percent as one word or two: per cent? Or should the standard be the abbreviation pct (with or without a period)? Or would the symbol % be best?
   All are correct, and the only standard in deciding which to use is the chief editor's preference. Moreover, the guiding principle for all manuals is to establish consistency of usage.

  Nonetheless, there are some formats that writers should use, since their goal is to communicate an idea or fact. And mixing both a fraction and a percentage in the same sentence spoils communication, since using both forces the reader to stop and figure out how the two relate. Granted, readers certainly are able to do so, but good writers don't force them to do it.
   Another hint: When you can't decide whether to use a masculine or feminine gender pronoun, the better choice is neither. Recast to the plural, as in the previous sentence.