Nimble Books LLC » Nimble Books Style Manual http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress An innovative, idiosyncratic independent publisher Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:16:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 Hyphens and Italics in #Naval Acronyms? No and no. http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/2009/07/hyphens-and-italics-in-naval-acronyms-no-and-no/ http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/2009/07/hyphens-and-italics-in-naval-acronyms-no-and-no/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:31:28 +0000 Fred Zimmerman http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/?p=174348 In the process of editing the ten volume history of torpedo boats by Joe Hinds, I realized that I made life difficult for myself by introducing a variety of inconsistencies.  The solutions:

No hyphens in ship numbers: the US Navy’s official standard is no hyphen, e.g. CV 77, PT 109.  So, henceforth: MAS 451, S 12, [...]]]> In the process of editing the ten volume history of torpedo boats by Joe Hinds, I realized that I made life difficult for myself by introducing a variety of inconsistencies.  The solutions:

No hyphens in ship numbers: the US Navy’s official standard is no hyphen, e.g. CV 77, PT 109.  So, henceforth: MAS 451, S 12, TKA 123, PQ 17.

No italics in ship numbers: PT 109, not PT 109. Italicizing ship numbers may be Chicago style, but it is a pain to select and highlight those little words, so henceforth, no italics.

Related posts:

  1. #naval Another positive review for Richard Worth’s In the Shadow of the Battleship: Considering the Cruisers of World War II
  2. #stylefail Numbers followed by numbers (naval specifications)
  3. #usagefail Hyphens in WWII #naval convoy names?

]]> http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/2009/07/hyphens-and-italics-in-naval-acronyms-no-and-no/feed/ 1 Slashes are highly discouraged http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/2009/03/slashes-are-highly-discouraged/ http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/2009/03/slashes-are-highly-discouraged/#comments Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:19:33 +0000 Fred Zimmerman http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/?p=172983 Slashed phrases such as designer/researcher or ombudsman/nuisance/visionary are highly discouraged, for two reasons:

1. Make up your mind. Which is it? 2. Slashed phrases play hell with line justification and hyphenation.

Related posts:McCain/Condi? Should “piazza” be italicized? #usagefail http://tinyurl.com/piazzaital Content Footnotes: No.

]]> Slashed phrases such as designer/researcher or ombudsman/nuisance/visionary are highly discouraged, for two reasons:

1. Make up your mind. Which is it?
2. Slashed phrases play hell with line justification and hyphenation.

Related posts:

  1. McCain/Condi?
  2. Should “piazza” be italicized? #usagefail http://tinyurl.com/piazzaital
  3. Content Footnotes: No.

]]> http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/2009/03/slashes-are-highly-discouraged/feed/ 0