If you use Microsoft Word, I guarantee you've been frustrated by its formatting, especially if you edit someone else's documents. For example, you modify the Heading 1 style to use Palatino rather than Arial--but Arial it remains. What's going on here?

Consider my living room wall, which I daringly painted red. Then, coming to my senses, I painted it grayish green. But wait . . . What *was* I thinking? Finally, I covered it with an almond color that looked okay.

Microsoft Word's formatting works pretty much the same way. It's done in layers, like paint on a wall.

The underlying layer is the formatting of paragraph styles. For example, if you apply the Heading 1 paragraph style using Word's defaults, your text will be formatted in 16-point Arial bold. If you attach a new template to your document (and check the box labeled "Automatically Update Document Styles"), the formatting of Heading 1 will change to whatever is specified in the new template (18-point Baskerville italic, for example). Note that this doesn't change the style formatting in your Normal template. It just paints over that formatting *in your document.* And if you "detach" the new template, the formatting won't change back. Once the paint is on there, it's on there. Of course, you can always attach a *different* template or modify the styles in the document itself if you want to change the formatting yet again.

The next layer up is the formatting of character styles. You can use character styles to format text selections smaller than a paragraph. For example, you might use a character style called Book Title to format book titles in Times Roman italic. Like paragraph styles, character styles can be changed by attaching a different template or modifying the styles in the document itself.

Finally, on the topmost layer, your document could have directly applied formatting. That's what you get if you simply select some text and apply, say, 18-point Baskerville italic without using a style. In all but the simplest documents, this kind of formatting is of the devil. Why? Because you can't change it simply by modifying the underlying style--and that means you have no way to control it (or even identify it) *throughout* the document. So, if you modify the Heading 1 style to use Palatino rather than Arial--well, Arial it remains.

How can you avoid this problem in your documents?

1. Don't use directly applied formatting.

2. Use character styles to format text selections smaller than a paragraph.

3. Use paragraph styles to format everything else.

4. To change your formatting, modify the *style* that produces it.

But what if you're working on someone else's documents? You'll probably want to remove all that directly applied formatting and use styles instead. But that's a topic for another day.

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Rich Shattenberg (shatts@world.cbi.org) wrote:

"I don't have a hint but I have a question and a problem. I live in the country of Madagascar. There is no Word spell checker for the Malagasy language, or at least I have not yet been able to find one. I have made a custom dictionary with about 7,000 words to do spell checks in Malagasy. However, here is the challenge.

"The word 'mandeha' means 'to go' (present tense), 'Nandeha' is past tense, and 'handeha' is future tense. For the custom dictionary, I have to enter all three words. I have not yet been able to find wildcard symbols to use in the custom dictionary.

"For example, is there a way of telling the custom dictionary to accept the word 'andeha' if there is either a 'm' or 'n' or 'h' in front of the word. This would mean I only have to make one entry for the three words."

I'm researching this, but do you, gentle reader, have an answer (or other questions, hints, or comments you'd like to share)? If so, please send me an email message here: mailto:hints [at symbol] editorium.com

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

If you're not familiar with the Tech-whirl Web site (TECHWR-L), you should be. It presents some of the finest information on technical writing and editing on the planet. You may also be interested in subscribing to the TECHWR-L discussion list, which is one *active* list. Why not check it out?

http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/index.php3

Do you ever work with lists of personal names--authors, meeting lists, and so on? If so, you could probably use NameSwapper, our new add-in program that swaps last names and first names (or vice versa, if that makes sense) in a list of names. For example, if you've got a list of names like this--

Cather, Willa

Harrison, G. B., Ph.D.

Lewis, C. S.

Tolkien, J.R.R.

--but you want them to look like this--

Willa Cather

G. B. Harrison, Ph.D.

C. S. Lewis

J.R.R. Tolkien

--NameSwapper will do the job.

I'm giving this program away! Subscribers to Editorium Update will be the first to have it, but please feel free to share it with friends and colleagues who might find it useful.

To download NameSwapper for Word 97, 98, 2000, 2001, or 2002, click here:

http://www.editorium.com/ftp/nameswapper8.zip

To download NameSwapper for Word 6 or 7 (95), click here:

http://www.editorium.com/ftp/nameswapper6.zip

The program will work on PC and Macintosh.

Once you've downloaded and unzipped (or unstuffed) the proper version of the program, you'll see the documentation, which is named NameSwapper.doc. (Open it in Word to read it.) You'll also see the NameSwapper program template, which is named NameSwapper.dot. (If you need software to unzip or unstuff the program, you can download it from http://www.winzip.com or http://www.aladdinsys.com.)

To use the template (NameSwapper.dot), follow this procedure:

1. Open it in Microsoft Word by clicking File > Open. Don't just double-click the template to open it. If you do, you'll run into problems later.

2. Double-click the large button that says "Double-Click here to install."

3. Follow the prompts on your screen.

If you have trouble with the installation, just copy the program template to Word's Templates or Startup folder. You can learn more about this here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707012536

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707100224

After the program is installed, you'll see the NameSwapper menu at the top of your Microsoft Word window. To use the program, open your list of names in Microsoft Word. The list should look something like this (if last names are first):

Cather, Willa

Harrison, G. B., Ph.D.

Lewis, C. S.

Tolkien, J.R.R.

Or, it can look like this (if first names are first):

Willa Cather

G. B. Harrison, Ph.D.

C. S. Lewis

J.R.R. Tolkien

Each name, including the last one, should be followed by a carriage return.

To swap the names in your list, click the NameSwapper menu. Then click "Put First Names First" or "Put Last Names First," depending on your list. After NameSwapper is finished, you can use Word's Sort feature (Table > Sort) to sort your names alphabetically.

NameSwapper knows how to deal with the following name "suffixes": Jr., Jr, JR, Sr., Sr, SR, I, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, Esq., Esq, Esquire, Ph.D., Ph.D, PhD., PhD, M.D., MD., MD, D.D.S., DDS., DDS., J.D., JD., JD, Ed.D., Ed.D, EdD., and EdD.

Be sure to use NameSwapper only on lists of names--with no other text in the document. *Please* don't use it on, say, your master's thesis. Also, be sure to keep backup copies of your lists in case you need something to go back to.

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

My longtime friend Richard O'Regan (raor@bluewin.ch) wrote:

I have another of my long legal books to do. In this one the author, preparing his work in Word for Windows, has been inconsistent about how he punctuates at the footnote reference numbers. Sometimes he puts his comma or the period after the footnote reference number and sometimes he puts it before.

I want the comma or period to precede the reference number. I can't do it with search and replace because you can't put the footnote reference (^f) in the replace box.

I replied:

You can do it with a not-so-simple find-and-replace.

In the Find What box, put this:

(^02)([.!?])

The ^02 will find the note reference numbers. The characters in square brackets will find the closing punctuation you want to transpose. If you like, you can add other punctuation, such as commas, colons, and semicolons:

(^02)([.!?,:;])

The backslash on the ! and ? are necessary to tell Word that you're using them as characters and not as wildcards. The parentheses group the items so that you can switch them around in the Replace With box, which should have this in it:

21

That tells Word to put the second group (the punctuation) first, and the first group (the footnote number) last. Doesn't the Bible say something about that. 🙂

Finally, you'll need to put a checkmark in the box labeled "Use Wildcards" (you may need to click the "More" button before it's available).

If you'd like to know about searching with wildcards, see Editorium Update for March 25 through April 25, 2001:

http://editorium.com/EUIndex.htm

If you'd like to know more about searching with numeric codes (such as ^02), see the November 21, 2000 issue of Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1704081834

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

This week, another Microsoft resource: Microsoft Office newsgroups. The Web site says you can "ask questions, share information, or exchange ideas with others who use Office products, including more than 750 Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) worldwide." To use the newsgroups, go here:

http://communities.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.asp?icp=Prod_Office

Then select a newsgroup from the list on the left.

Last week I introduced a program that creates typographic spaces by changing a space's point size relative to the surrounding text. But why is that a good idea? If you save a document with such spaces in almost any other kind of format--HTML, XML, or even ASCII--those spaces are going to cause problems. For example, that hair space you so carefully placed in front of those closing quotation marks will turn into a full-fledged *space*--with no "thin" about it. That can't be good.

So what's the point of using special characters and formatting? To enhance the *presentation* of a document's content. Presentation is what the document looks like. It includes such things as typeface, point size, kerning, tracking, and all of the other paraphernalia of the typesetter's art.

*Content,* on the other hand, is a document's text--and its structure: words, sentences, paragraphs, block quotations, subheadings, and chapter headings--the kind of thing you should designate with paragraph styles. In fact, the whole point of a paragraph style is what it represents--not what it looks like. The fact that your chapter heading style is named "Chapter Head" is what's important. The fact that it's currently formatted as Baskerville 16-point bold is immaterial as far as content goes.

In today's publishing environment the distinction between content and presentation is especially important, because your Word document may end up as a Web page, a Help file, an electronic book, or some other kind of presentation document that hasn't been invented yet--each with different formatting than the others. For that reason, you need to keep your Word documents free from such tinkering as artificially created thin spaces.

But there is an exception. If your Word file itself will be the presentation document (to be printed or displayed in Word), then you can go ahead and put in those thin spaces, optional hyphens, and so on--whatever will make the document look good. Be aware, however, that this *is* a presentation document--a final product. So be sure to keep a backup of your *content* document safely in a separate file. Then, when it's time to create that Web page, you won't have to spend hours cleaning up the manual tweaking you did in your presentation document. Just open the content document and off you go.

Editors need to be concerned with both content and presentation. As a book editor, I look almost exclusively at content when editing a manuscript. I usually don't even know what typeface the designer will use. But after the book has been typeset, I look almost exclusively at presentation--widows, orphans, line breaks, and so on. The difference is that the manuscript is a content document. The galleys are a presentation document. And that distinction should be kept firmly in mind.

I do not know which to prefer,

The beauty of inflections

Or the beauty of innuendoes,

The blackbird whistling

Or just after.

--Wallace Stevens

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Martha Bowes wrote, "Is there a workaround to get Word to show custom heading styles in the document map?"

Microsoft Word's Document Map is a highly useful feature, especially for editors. To display it, click View > Document Map. Text formatted with Word's built-in Heading styles will be displayed in the map, and you can click one of them to go to that heading in your document.

Martha wants to know if there's a way to display text formatted with custom styles in the Document Map. And there is:

1. Put your cursor on some text formatted with the custom style.

2. Click the Format menu.

3. Click Style.

4. Click Modify.

5. Click Format.

6. Click Paragraph.

7. Click the Indents and Spacing tab.

8. In the Outline level box, select the level you want the heading to have. (This is the key to making this work.)

9. Click OK.

10. Click OK.

11. Click Close.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

The Computer Tutor of San Francisco offers an excellent online tutorial on using styles in Microsoft Word:

http://www.geocities.com/w2css/styles/

You can read the complete text of Wallace Stevens's "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" here:

http://boppin.com/poets/stevens.htm

Two weeks ago, I explained how to "roll your own" typographical spaces (thin spaces, hair spaces, and so on) in Microsoft Word. Last week I explained how to use typographical spaces with Unicode. But if you don't want to make typographical spaces by hand and your version of Word doesn't support Unicode, you might want to try SpaceCadet, our new add-in program that makes it easy to use typographical spaces in Microsoft Word. I'm giving it away! Subscribers to Editorium Update will be the first to have it, but please feel free to share it with friends and colleagues who might find it useful.

To download SpaceCadet for Word 97, 98, 2000, 2001, or 2002, click here:

http://www.editorium.com/ftp/SpaceCadet8.zip

To download SpaceCadet for Word 6 or 7 (95), click here:

http://www.editorium.com/ftp/SpaceCadet6.zip

The program will work on PC and Macintosh.

Once you've downloaded and unzipped (or unstuffed) the proper version of the program, you'll see the documentation, which is named SpaceCadet.doc. (Open it in Word to read it.) You'll also see the SpaceCadet program template, which is named SpaceCadet.dot. (If you need software to unzip or unstuff the program, you can download it from http://www.winzip.com or http://www.aladdinsys.com.) To use the template (SpaceCadet.dot), follow this procedure:

1. Open it in Microsoft Word by clicking File > Open. Don't just double-click the template to open it. If you do, you'll run into problems later.

2. Double-click the large button that says "Double-Click here to Install."

3. Follow the prompts on your screen.

After the program is installed, display the SpaceCadet toolbar by clicking View > Toolbars > SpaceCadet. Then click a toolbar button to insert the kind of space you need. Or, press CTRL + SPACEBAR and then the character that is underlined on one of the buttons. For example, pressing 3 would create a 3-to-em space. M means em space, N means en space, T means thin space, and H means hair space. For more information, see the program documentation or the January 24, 2002, issue of Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1709472543

Please note, however, that if you *can* use Unicode, that's the better way to go. You can learn more about Unicode here:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1709529895

____________________________________________________

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Leonard Will (L.Will@Willpowerinfo.co.uk) wrote:

"It might just be worth while adding the warning that you should not insert any additional spaces of any kind into character strings that might be used as URLs to access Internet resources. People may use these as active links or cut and paste them into an address bar. If the spaces are very small or invisible this might lead to irritating errors that are hard to track down.

"I presume, though, that your main concern is the appearance of text printed on paper, when additional spacing may make it look better, as long as people don't realise that there is a space there!"

Right! Thanks to Leonard for this important tip.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

If you haven't yet seen Jean Hollis Weber's book on electronic editing, you owe it to yourself to take a look:

http://www.jeanweber.com/books/e-edit.htm

This 248-page book is titled Electronic Editing, with a subtitle of Editing in the Computer Age. Published by WeberWoman's Wrevenge, the book (ISBN 0-646-38037-0) is available for Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF). The author describes it as "a quick start guide for editing students, experienced editors making the switch from paper to online, and anyone who needs to write or edit electronically."

A broad but detailed overview of electronic editing, this beautifully formatted book makes a nice complement to our book Total Word Domination (which gives a more in-depth look at various Word features--usually different from those in Electronic Editing). I'd recommend that you get them both. Jean Weber's book explains how to:

* Define your role as an electronic editor

* Work online

* Work remotely

* Edit using Microsoft Word, Lotus Word Pro, FrameMaker, and Adobe Acrobat

* Manage e-mail when traveling

* Back up data and programs

You can see a complete (and very tempting) contents listing here:

http://www.jeanweber.com/books/edbktoc.htm

If you like the book, be sure to pay Jean for her efforts. The Web site explains the procedure:

http://www.jeanweber.com/books/payme.htm

In the beginning was ASCII, and ASCII was limited--128 characters wasn't enough. So Microsoft extended it to 256--still not enough. True, you could now access "foreign-language" and other special characters by using "code pages" with different fonts in Microsoft Word. If you've clicked Insert > Symbol and then changed the font on the drop-down list in the Symbol dialog, you've seen how this works: the same character "position" (or number) often displays a different character in different fonts.

But what if you want to use special characters--*any* special characters--in the *same* font as your regular text? That's what Unicode is all about. As the Unicode Web site explains, "Unicode provides a unique number for every character, no matter what the platform, no matter what the program, no matter what the language." How many characters? Potentially more than a million. So whether you're working with Greek or Gothic, Klingon or Korean, Unicode is for you.

Unicode also includes special typographical characters, such as hair spaces, thin spaces, and zero-width spaces, which we made by hand in last week's newsletter. But now you don't have to make them; using Unicode, you can get the real thing.

Of course, there is a catch. Using Unicode requires three things:

1. An operating system that supports it.

2. A program (application) that supports it.

3. A Unicode font that includes the characters you need (not all of them will, although in theory they should).

There's a list of such items here:

http://www.unicode.org/unicode/onlinedat/products.html

But I'll make it easy for you:

1. Common operating systems include Microsoft Windows 2000, NT, and XP, and Macintosh OS 9.2, X, 10.1, and X Server.

2. Versions of Microsoft Word include 97, 2000, and 2002 for Windows, and 98, 2001, and X for Macintosh. However, the Mac versions (and operating systems) may require a "Language Kit," which you can learn more about here:

http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/unicode/utilities_fonts.html#apple

3. Unicode fonts are rapidly becoming available. There's a great list here, and many of the fonts are free:

http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/unicode/fonts.html#general

Once you've installed a Unicode font, you can insert its special characters with the good old Insert > Symbol menu (be sure to select the Unicode font in the dropdown Font list).

You can also insert a character with the keyboard (in Word 2000 and higher) if you know its Unicode number. To do so, be sure a Unicode font is selected (Format > Font); then type the number into your document and press ALT + X. For example, let's say we need a zero-width space in Word 2000. The Unicode number for such a space is 200B. So all we have to do is type 200B into our document and press ALT + X. Presto!

You can learn more about using Unicode characters in Word here:

http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/unicode/utilities_editors.html#word97

For additional information on Word 2000 and 2002, scroll down past the Word 97 information (which is also relevant for the later versions).

If you need to look up the number of a Unicode character, you can do so here:

http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/unicode/search.html

If you just want to insert typographic spaces, here are the Unicode numbers you need:

Nonbreaking space: 00A0

En space: 2002

Em space: 2003

Three-per-em space: 2004

Four-per-em space: 2005

Six-per-em space: 2006

Figure space: 2007

Punctuation space: 2008

Thin space: 2009

Hair space: 200A

Zero-width space: 200B

And you'll find additional information on spaces here:

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/developers/fdsspec/spaces.htm

With Unicode, the world (or at least its scripts) is your oyster.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

For a dazzling array of Unicode information, see Alan Wood's Unicode Resources site:

http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/unicode/index.html

Check out the official Unicode site here:

The official site: http://www.unicode.org

For online samples of interesting characters, see this page:

http://home.att.net/~jameskass/scriptlinks.htm

For a free Word add-in program to help you insert Unicode characters, go here:

http://hem.fyristorg.com/dahloe/uniqoder/

For information on artificial scripts, go here:

http://www.evertype.com/standards/csur/index.html

If you're a Tolkien fan, you might be interested in the Tengwar encoding proposal:

http://www.evertype.com/standards/csur/tengwar.html and in Tolkien fonts (but not necessarily Unicode):

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4948/

http://babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/fonts/tolkien.html

and in the Resources for Tolkien Linguistics site:

http://www.elvish.org/resources.html

And if you're actually interested in Klingon, here's the scoop:

http://www.evertype.com/standards/csur/klingon.html

Microsoft Word comes with four kinds of spaces:

* word spaces

* nonbreaking spaces

* em spaces

* en spaces

The word space is just the ordinary space used between words--the kind you insert with the spacebar. Its main strength is its variable size, which is especially important with justified type. Microsoft Word ordinarily expands word spaces to make justification work, but you can also get it to compress them. For more information, see the October 31, 2001, issue of Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708754845

The nonbreaking space, unlike the word space, won't break at the end of a line. It's often used to link proper names (so that "J.R.R." stays on the same line as "Tolkien"), as well as percentages ("98 percent"), page numbers ("page 3"), and, as explained in last week's newsletter, ellipses:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1709407200

Keep in mind, however, that the nonbreaking space is unlike the word space in another way: its size is fixed (relative to the current point size). In certain typefaces, with justified type, that fixed size may make ellipses look unevenly spaced, so be careful. To enter a nonbreaking space, click Insert > Symbol > Special Characters > Nonbreaking Space. Or just press SHIFT + CTRL + SPACE. For more ways to use nonbreaking spaces, see the Readers Write column of the October 3, 2001, Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1708466498

The em space is as wide as an em, which is a linear measure equal to the point size. For example, in 12-point type, an em is 12 points wide. In traditional typesetting, an em space was used as fixed-width indentation at the beginning of a paragraph. Nowadays we usually specify first line indent as part of paragraph formatting. But if you insist on using an em space, you can get one by clicking Insert > Symbol > Special Characters > Em Space.

The en space is half as wide as an em space. For example, in 12-point type, an en space is 6 points wide. It's basically the same thing as a figure space, and it's used in aligning lists of figures, or numbers. For example, in a list like this--

8. Lorem ipsum.

9. Dolor sit amet.

10. Consectetuer adipiscing elit.

--the periods and terminal figures all line up because the space in front of 8 and 9 is the same width (one en) as the 1 in the number 10. That's right; in professional typefaces, all of the "lining figures" (numbers used in lists) are also one en wide. (Those old typesetters knew what they were doing.) In Microsoft Word you can achieve the same effect with tabs, but if you really want to use an en space, click Insert > Symbol > Special Characters > En Space.

In traditional typesetting, there are several other kinds of spaces, including (getting progressively fatter) the zero-width space, the hair space, the thin space, and the three-to-em space.

As its name indicates, the zero-width space has no width; you can't even see it. Nevertheless, it will break at the end of a line, which comes in handy when you've got a long string of characters that you *do* want to break but that otherwise wouldn't. For example, you might have some words joined by an em dash--like this. Ordinarily Microsoft Word won't break on the left side of the dash, which can make for some ugly typography if you've got long words and narrow columns. To remedy the problem, put a zero-width space in front of the dash. How? Microsoft Word doesn't include one, so you'll have to make your own:

1. Insert an em space (since we want the size to be fixed relative to the current point size).

2. Select the space.

3. Set the space's point size to 1. (We'd set it to 0, but Word won't allow it. Still, 1 works pretty well, although you *can* see it, which means you'd better balance it with another one on the right side of the dash.)

The hair space is also sometimes used, for aesthetic purposes, on both sides of an em dash. I've also seen it used between the letter f and a closing quotation mark or other characters that look crowded together. Again, you'll have to make your own:

1. Insert an em space (since we want the size to be fixed relative to the current point size).

2. Select the space.

3. Set the space's point size to 1/10 of the current size, or as close to it as you can manage. Remember that you can type in .5 (4.5, 5.5, etc.) to bump up the size by half a point. If you need to make the hair space smaller than 1/10 of the current point size, feel free; many typographers do.

Then there's the thin space, which some typographers (French ones, for example) use after certain punctuation marks, such as the colon. It's also used to set off the first two numbers of years that are more than four numbers long: 10 000 B.C. (Remember, commas shouldn't be used in dates.) I've also seen it used between ellipses. To make a thin space:

1. Insert an em space (since we want the size to be fixed relative to the current point size).

2. Select the space.

3. Set the space's point size to 1/5 of the current size, or as close to it as you can manage. Remember that you can type in .5 (4.5, 5.5, etc.) to bump up the size by half a point. Some typographers define a thin space as half the size of a standard word space.

The three-to-em space, as you've probably surmised, is as wide as a third of the current point size. For a size of 12, that would be 4. The Chicago Manual of Style says to use this space between ellipses, which is okay with me. By now, you know how to make one.

There ought to be a better solution than making spaces by hand--PageMaker and QuarkXPress come to mind. But if you must work in Word, there is another way. It's dark and dangerous, and its name is Unicode. But that's a subject for another day.

By the way, I'm not saying you should actually *use* all these spaces in your day-to-day work. I'd use them only if I had to approximate fine typography in Microsoft Word, which is possible but certainly not easy. If you ever need to do that, maybe these spaces will help.

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

Self-proclaimed Word heretic sent the following macros, which use Unicode to set zero-width spaces around various characters and character combinations (/, :/, and so on) to make sure they will break at the end of a line. Notice that you can modify the characters specified in Sub FixWordWrap to suit your own needs. (For example, you could use ^+ for an em dash.) If you don't understand what's going on with the characters, please see the articles on wildcard searching in past issues of Editorium Update. For information on how to use macros like these, see the May 30, 2001, issue of Editorium Update:

Using "Found" Macros

Thanks, Steve!

Sub FixWordWrap()
FixSymbolWordWrap "/{1,2}"
FixSymbolWordWrap ":/{1,2}"
FixSymbolWordWrap "[\]{1,2}"
FixSymbolWordWrap ":[\]{1,2}"
FixSymbolWordWrap "_"
End Sub
Private Sub FixSymbolWordWrap(Symbol As String)
' inserts a zero-width space after the symbol if text either side
Dim R As Range
Dim ZeroSpace As String
ZeroSpace = ChrW(8203)
On Error Resume Next
Const Pre As String = "([a-zA-Z0-9]"
Const Suf As String = ")([a-zA-Z0-9])"
Set R = ActiveDocument.Range
With R.Find
.MatchWildcards = True
.Text = Pre & Symbol & Suf
.Replacement.Text = "1" & ZeroSpace & "2"
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
End Sub

This macro will remove the zero-width spaces if you change your mind:

Sub UnFixWordWrap()
Dim R As Range
Set R = ActiveDocument.Range
With R.Find
.Text = ChrW(8203)
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
End Sub

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

For Microsoft's take on typographical spaces, see the article here:

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/developers/fdsspec/spaces.htm

Check out this terrific typography primer from Robin Williams (the typographer, not the actor):

Click to access 9507lsrw.pdf

[Last week's newsletter featured an article on British and American spelling. Thank goodness a reader who actually knows about such things sent some corrections. Please see the Readers Write column (below the main article) for details. I'll postpone my article on British to American translation (bonnet/hood) until I've verified my list with more than just Internet research. 🙂 ]

In the documentation for our FileCleaner program, I say, "Authors have numerous ways of typing ellipses. Some use the horrid little ellipses 'character' available in some symbol fonts. Others type three periods in a row with no spacing in between. And there are many other variations."

So is there a *right* way to display ellipses in Microsoft Word? Yes, there is: any way that communicates clearly and looks good. In my opinion, that excludes the ellipses character (?), which Microsoft calls a "horizontal ellipsis" (PC character 133; Mac character 201; Unicode character 2026: press ALT + CTRL + . on a PC or OPTION + ; on a Mac). Let me explain my loathing of this little beast.

First, it doesn't communicate clearly. If it appears between two bits of text, like this?it's really too short to convey the idea that something has been left out (ellipses often indicate omission) or that the reader should pause. You can add a space on either side ? but then what's the point of using the character?

Second, it doesn't look good. It's tiny and ugly, like flyspecks on a wall. If you try to remedy that by putting spaces on the sides, those spaces don't match the spacing between the dots, so the whole thing looks funny. Also, sometimes you'll need to use ellipses with a period. But in many typefaces, the period isn't the same size as the ellipses dots, and there's no way to get the spacing after the period to match the spacing between the dots.?Finally, since spacing in the ellipses character is fixed, it won't justify with the spaces in the rest of your text.

Besides, the character didn't exist in the days of setting type by hand. It's a capitulation to "desktop publishing" and has no place in fine typography.

How, then, should ellipses be created in Microsoft Word? One way is to type a straightforward succession of spaces and periods. . . . The meaning is clear, and they look fine. I'd recommend that you use nonbreaking spaces around the middle dot of the ellipses so they won't break at the end of a line, like this. .

. . but go neatly to the beginning of the next line, like this.

. . . To illustrate, the ellipses should be entered like this ( indicates a regular space and indicates a nonbreaking space):

...

To enter a nonbreaking space, press CTRL + SHIFT + SPACEBAR, which is nearly as easy as hitting the spacebar alone. In fact, why not record the whole sequence of characters as a macro and then assign the macro to a keyboard shortcut? For more information, see these issues of Editorium Update:

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1706651129

http://www.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1707100224 (Reader's Write column)

Some typographers argue that a standard space is too wide to use in ellipses. If you agree, you can use a thin space, which is sometimes defined as half the width of a standard space. Next week, I'll explain how to get one.

_________________________________________

READERS WRITE

After reading last week's article on British and American spelling, Clive Tolley of Clive Tolley Editorial Services wrote:

Please note parallelled is INCORRECT in British spelling: it has one l only.

Also, -ise/-ize is NOT a British/American distinction; it is simply a trend that -ise tends to be used more in Britain, but e.g. Oxford Univ. Press demands -ize.

I think it may be tricky trying to use a list for this sort of replacement; for example, it is probably quicker searching for ise/ize, ise/izing, isa/iza, similarly I should think for ae/e, and changing each in turn - after all there are many exceptions, at least where ize is the norm but ise has to be used in some words. My editing work involves about half and half English and American, and here at least for the companies I work for we don't change the spelling etc., but publish according to the author's usage (which actually sometimes means something in between, quite often American spelling but largely English punctuation - in general we standardise the norm). I find it a bit difficult sometimes when editing American scripts, since I just scarcely notice when I see the to me natural 'travelled' etc., on which point I have found quite a bit of inconsistency in American scripts (of course, many of the standard British forms are also listed in Webster as acceptable alternatives in America).

It is not just spelling which differs; it is also punctuation. E.g. in British English we place punctuation around quotation marks according to logic, so punctuation only goes within them if it belongs to the original quotation. The Editors' Toolkit will place punctuation according to American usage, which is not much use to us here; I wish the opposite function was also included, so we could more easily correct punctuation to what we need.

There are many other differences, e.g. much less of en rules in America, which can't be catered for automatically.

Many thanks to Clive for his astute corrections and observations.

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

Lots of links, news, contacts, fonts, and utilities are available at Microsoft's typography site:

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/default.asp

Are you worried about eyestrain and repetitive strain injury? Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., offers a wealth of information to help you stay healthy and productive:

http://www.sfwa.org/ergonomics/

Have you ever needed to change spelling from British English to American English or vice versa? One way to do this is to change the language format of your Word document and then do a spell check. For example, if you needed to change spelling from British to American, you could change the language format from British to American English. Then the spell checker would catch such words as "capitalise" and "colour." To try this approach, follow this procedure:

1. Select the text you want to change (probably the whole document).

2. Click the "Tools" menu.

3. Click "Language."

4. Click "Set Language."

5. In the "Mark selected text as" list, click the language you want (either "English [U.S]" or "English [U.K]"). (A check mark next to the language name means that the spelling files for that language are installed.)

Although this will work, it's a tedious way to go. If you'd like to be more efficient, try our MegaReplacer program, which you can use free for 45 days. You can download the program here:

http://www.editorium.com/14843.htm

MegaReplacer automatically finds and replaces a whole list of words, so now all you need is a list of British and American spellings. I've provided one below, already set up for MegaReplacer. Actually, I've provided two lists: one to replace British spellings with American spellings, and one to replace American spellings with British spellings. Of course, if you don't want to use MegaReplacer, you could always find and replace the words by hand, recording a macro as you go so you'll have it for future use.

The lists are not complete, and you might want to argue with some of the entries. That's okay. Feel free to modify them to suit your needs.

Please note that replacing some of the words will also take care of longer words. For example, replacing "honour" with "honor" will also replace "honoured" with "honored."

Now if we just had a list of British/American *translations,* such as "hood"/"bonnet"! Maybe next week. And now, here are the lists, which I hope you'll find useful:

------------------------------

BRITISH TO AMERICAN

------------------------------

abridgement|abridgment

acknowledgement|acknowledgment

adaptor|adapter

adze|adz

aeon|eon

aeroplane|airplane

aesthete|esthete

aesthetic|esthetic

aether|ether

ageing|aging

aluminium|aluminum

Americanise|Americanize

amoeba|ameba

anaemia|anemia

anaemic|anemic

anaesthesia|anesthesia

anaesthetic|anesthetic

anaesthetist|anesthetist

analogue|analog

analyse|analyze

anti-aircraft|antiaircraft

apologise|apologize

apophthegm|apothegm

appal|appall

arbour|arbor

archaeology|archeology

ardour|ardor

armour|armor

armourer|armorer

armoury|armory

artefact|artifact

ash-tray|ashtray

axe|ax

B.Sc.|B.S.

bannister|banister

battleaxe|battle-ax

baulk|balk

behaviour|behavior

behove|behoove

biassed|biased

biassing|biasing

bisulphate|bisulfate

boloney|baloney

book-keeper|bookkeeper

boracic|boric

burglarise|burglarize

burnt|burned

buses|busses

bye law|bylaw

caesium|cesium

caf?|cafe

calibre|caliber

calliper|caliper

callisthenics|calisthenics

camomile|chamomile

cancelled|canceled

cancelling|canceling

candour|candor

cantaloup|cantaloupe

capitalise|capitalize

carburettor|carburetor

carcase|carcass

catalogue|catalog

catalyse|catalyze

categorise|categorize

centre|center

characterise|characterize

cheque|check

chilli|chili

cigarette|cigaret

citrous|citrus

clamour|clamor

clangour|clangor

clarinettist|clarinetist

colonise|colonize

colour|color

connexion|connection

co-operate|cooperate

cosy|cozy

councillor|councilor

counselled|counseled

counselling|counseling

counsellor|counselor

crayfish|crawfish

criticise|criticize

day-dream|daydream

defence|defense

deflexion|deflection

demeanour|demeanor

dependant|dependent

despatch|dispatch

devilled|deviled

devilling|deviling

diaeresis|dieresis

dialogue|dialog

dialyse|dialyze

diarrhoea|diarrhea

disc|disk

dishevelled|disheveled

distil|distill

disulphide|disulfide

dolour|dolor

doodah|doodad

doughnut|donut

Dr|Dr.

dramatise|dramatize

draught|draft

dreamt|dreamed

?lite|elite

emphasise|emphasize

enamour|enamor

encyclopaedia|encyclopedia

endeavour|endeavor

enquire|inquire

enquiry|inquiry

enrol|enroll

enthral|enthrall

equalise|equalize

equalled|equaled

equalling|equaling

extemporise|extemporize

faecal|fecal

faeces|feces

favour|favor

fervour|fervor

f?te|fete

fibre|fiber

finalise|finalize

flaky|flakey

flautist|flutist

flavour|flavor

fledgeling|fledgling

flower-pot|flower pot

focussed|focused

focussing|focusing

foetal|fetal

foetid|fetid

foetus|fetus

fount|font

fuelled|fueled

fuelling|fueling

fulfil|fulfill

furore|furor

gaol|jail

garrotte|garrote

garrotted|garroted

garrotting|garroting

gauge|gage

genuflexion|genuflection

gipsy|gypsy

glamour|glamor

goitre|goiter

gonorrhoea|gonorrhea

grey|gray

grovelled|groveled

grovelling|groveling

gybe|jibe

gynaecology|gynecology

haemoglobin|hemoglobin

haemophilia|hemophilia

haemorrhage|hemorrhage

haemorrhoid|hemorrhoid

harbour|harbor

haulier|hauler

homoeopath|homeopath

homoeostasis|homeostasis

honour|honor

humour|humor

incase|encase

inclose|enclose

indorse|endorse

inflexion|inflection

instal|install

instil|instill

jeweller|jeweler

jewellery|jewelry

Jnr.|Jr.

judgement|judgment

kerb|curb

kidnapped|kidnaped

kidnapper|kidnaper

kidnapping|kidnaping

knelt|kneeled

labour|labor

lasagne|lasagna

leant|leaned

leapt|leaped

learnt|learned

leukaemia|leukemia

levelled|leveled

leveller|leveler

levelling|leveling

libelled|libeled

libelling|libeling

libellous|libelous

liberalise|liberalize

licence|license

liquorice|licorice

litre|liter

louvre|louver

lustre|luster

manoeuvre|maneuver

marvelled|marveled

marvelling|marveling

marvellous|marvelous

matin?e|matinee

meagre|meager

mediaeval|medieval

metalled|metaled

metalling|metaling

metre|meter

misdemeanour|misdemeanor

mitre|miter

mobilise|mobilize

modelled|modeled

modeller|modeler

modelling|modeling

mollusc|mollusk

motorise|motorize

mould|mold

moult|molt

moustache|mustache

na?ve|naive

naturalise|naturalize

neighbour|neighbor

neo-classical|neoclassical

nitre|niter

normalise|normalize

note-paper|note paper

nought|naught

ochre|ocher

odour|odor

oedema|edema

oenology|enology

oesophagus|esophagus

oestrogen|estrogen

oestrus|estrus

offence|offense

omelette|omelet

organisation|organization

organise|organize

orthopaedics|orthopedics

paedagogy|pedagogy

paederast|pederast

paediatric|pediatric

paediatrician|pediatrician

paediatrics|pediatrics

paedophile|pedophile

paedophilia|pedophilia

palaeobotany|paleobotany

Palaeocene|Paleocene

palaeoclimatology|paleoclimatology

palaeogeography|paleogeography

palaeography|paleography

palaeolithic|paleolithic

palaeomagnetism|paleomagnetism

palaeontology|paleontology

Palaeozoic|Paleozoic

panelled|paneled

panelling|paneling

panellist|panelist

parallelled|paralleled

parallelling|paralleling

paralyse|paralyze

parlour|parlor

pasteurised|pasteurized

pedlar|peddler

phial|vial

philtre|philter

pleaded|pled

plough|plow

polythene|polyethylene

popularise|popularize

practise|practice

pre-ignition|preignition

premise|premise

pretence|pretense

primaeval|primeval

programme|program

pseudo-intellectual|pseudointellectual

pseudo-science|pseudoscience

pyjamas|pajamas

quarrelled|quarreled

quarreller|quarreler

quarrelling|quarreling

rancour|rancor

realise|realize

recognise|recognize

reconnoitre|reconnoiter

reflexion|reflection

retroflexion|retroflection

revelled|reveled

revelling|reveling

rigour|rigor

r?le|role

routeing|routing

rumour|rumor

sabre|saber

saleable|salable

saltpetre|saltpeter

satirise|satirize

saviour|savior

savour|savor

scallywag|scalawag

sceptic|skeptic

sceptre|scepter

sepulchre|sepulcher

skilful|skillful

smelt|smelled

smoulder|smolder

Snr.|Sr.

sombre|somber

speciality|specialty

spectre|specter

spelt|spelled

spilt|spilled

splendour|splendor

spoilt|spoiled

stabilise|stabilize

standardise|standardize

storey|story

succour|succor

sulphate|sulfate

sulphide|sulfide

sulphur|sulfur

symbolise|symbolize

synaeresis|syneresis

synaesthesia|synesthesia

tantalise|tantalize

theatre|theater

tiro|tyro

titbit|tidbit

towards|toward

travelled|traveled

traveller|traveler

travelling|traveling

trisulphate|trisulfate

trowelled|troweled

trowelling|troweling

tumour|tumor

tyre|tire

ultra-high|ultrahigh

ultra-modern|ultramodern

valour|valor

vaporise|vaporize

vapour|vapor

vice|vise

vigour|vigor

waggon|wagon

wilful|willful

woollen|woolen

woolly|wooly

worshipped|worshiped

worshipper|worshiper

worshipping|worshiping

------------------------------

AMERICAN TO BRITISH

------------------------------

abridgment|abridgement

acknowledgment|acknowledgement

adapter|adaptor

adz|adze

aging|ageing

airplane|aeroplane

aluminum|aluminium

ameba|amoeba

Americanize|Americanise

analog|analogue

analyze|analyse

anemia|anaemia

anemic|anaemic

anesthesia|anaesthesia

anesthetic|anaesthetic

anesthetist|anaesthetist

antiaircraft|anti-aircraft

apologize|apologise

apothegm|apophthegm

appall|appal

arbor|arbour

archeology|archaeology

ardor|ardour

armor|armour

armorer|armourer

armory|armoury

artifact|artefact

ashtray|ash-tray

ax|axe

B.S.|B.Sc.

balk|baulk

baloney|boloney

banister|bannister

battle-ax|battleaxe

behavior|behaviour

behoove|behove

biased|biassed

biasing|biassing

bisulfate|bisulphate

bookkeeper|book-keeper

boric|boracic

burglarize|burglarise

burned|burnt

busses|buses

bylaw|bye law

cafe|caf?

caliber|calibre

caliper|calliper

calisthenics|callisthenics

canceled|cancelled

canceling|cancelling

candor|candour

cantaloupe|cantaloup

capitalize|capitalise

carburetor|carburettor

carcass|carcase

catalog|catalogue

catalyze|catalyse

categorize|categorise

center|centre

cesium|caesium

chamomile|camomile

characterize|characterise

check|cheque

chili|chilli

cigaret|cigarette

citrus|citrous

clamor|clamour

clangor|clangour

clarinetist|clarinettist

colonize|colonise

color|colour

connection|connexion

cooperate|co-operate

councilor|councillor

counseled|counselled

counseling|counselling

counselor|counsellor

cozy|cosy

crawfish|crayfish

criticize|criticise

curb|kerb

daydream|day-dream

defense|defence

deflection|deflexion

demeanor|demeanour

dependent|dependant

deviled|devilled

deviling|devilling

dialog|dialogue

dialyze|dialyse

diarrhea|diarrhoea

dieresis|diaeresis

disheveled|dishevelled

disk|disc

dispatch|despatch

distill|distil

disulfide|disulphide

dolor|dolour

donut|doughnut

doodad|doodah

Dr.|Dr

draft|draught

dramatize|dramatise

dreamed|dreamt

edema|oedema

elite|?lite

emphasize|emphasise

enamor|enamour

encase|incase

enclose|inclose

encyclopedia|encyclopaedia

endeavor|endeavour

endorse|indorse

enology|oenology

enroll|enrol

enthrall|enthral

eon|aeon

equaled|equalled

equaling|equalling

equalize|equalise

esophagus|oesophagus

esthete|aesthete

esthetic|aesthetic

estrogen|oestrogen

estrus|oestrus

ether|aether

extemporize|extemporise

favor|favour

fecal|faecal

feces|faeces

fervor|fervour

fetal|foetal

fete|f?te

fetid|foetid

fetus|foetus

fiber|fibre

finalize|finalise

flakey|flaky

flavor|flavour

fledgling|fledgeling

flower pot|flower-pot

flutist|flautist

focused|focussed

focusing|focussing

font|fount

fueled|fuelled

fueling|fuelling

fulfill|fulfil

furor|furore

gage|gauge

garrote|garrotte

garroted|garrotted

garroting|garrotting

genuflection|genuflexion

glamor|glamour

goiter|goitre

gonorrhea|gonorrhoea

gray|grey

groveled|grovelled

groveling|grovelling

gynecology|gynaecology

gypsy|gipsy

harbor|harbour

hauler|haulier

hemoglobin|haemoglobin

hemophilia|haemophilia

hemorrhage|haemorrhage

hemorrhoid|haemorrhoid

homeopath|homoeopath

homeostasis|homoeostasis

honor|honour

humor|humour

inflection|inflexion

inquire|enquire

inquiry|enquiry

install|instal

instill|instil

jail|gaol

jeweler|jeweller

jewelry|jewellery

jibe|gybe

Jr.|Jnr.

judgment|judgement

kidnaped|kidnapped

kidnaper|kidnapper

kidnaping|kidnapping

kneeled|knelt

labor|labour

lasagna|lasagne

leaned|leant

leaped|leapt

learned|learnt

leukemia|leukaemia

leveled|levelled

leveler|leveller

leveling|levelling

libeled|libelled

libeling|libelling

libelous|libellous

liberalize|liberalise

license|licence

licorice|liquorice

liter|litre

louver|louvre

luster|lustre

maneuver|manoeuvre

marveled|marvelled

marveling|marvelling

marvelous|marvellous

matinee|matin?e

meager|meagre

medieval|mediaeval

metaled|metalled

metaling|metalling

meter|metre

misdemeanor|misdemeanour

miter|mitre

mobilize|mobilise

modeled|modelled

modeler|modeller

modeling|modelling

mold|mould

mollusk|mollusc

molt|moult

motorize|motorise

mustache|moustache

naive|na?ve

naturalize|naturalise

naught|nought

neighbor|neighbour

neoclassical|neo-classical

niter|nitre

normalize|normalise

note paper|note-paper

ocher|ochre

odor|odour

offense|offence

omelet|omelette

organization|organisation

organize|organise

orthopedics|orthopaedics

pajamas|pyjamas

paleobotany|palaeobotany

Paleocene|Palaeocene

paleoclimatology|palaeoclimatology

paleogeography|palaeogeography

paleography|palaeography

paleolithic|palaeolithic

paleomagnetism|palaeomagnetism

paleontology|palaeontology

Paleozoic|Palaeozoic

paneled|panelled

paneling|panelling

panelist|panellist

paralleled|parallelled

paralleling|parallelling

paralyze|paralyse

parlor|parlour

pasteurized|pasteurised

pedagogy|paedagogy

peddler|pedlar

pederast|paederast

pediatric|paediatric

pediatrician|paediatrician

pediatrics|paediatrics

pedophile|paedophile

pedophilia|paedophilia

philter|philtre

pled|pleaded

plow|plough

polyethylene|polythene

popularize|popularise

practice|practise

preignition|pre-ignition

premise|premise

pretense|pretence

primeval|primaeval

program|programme

pseudointellectual|pseudo-intellectual

pseudoscience|pseudo-science

quarreled|quarrelled

quarreler|quarreller

quarreling|quarrelling

rancor|rancour

realize|realise

recognize|recognise

reconnoiter|reconnoitre

reflection|reflexion

retroflection|retroflexion

reveled|revelled

reveling|revelling

rigor|rigour

role|r?le

routing|routeing

rumor|rumour

saber|sabre

salable|saleable

saltpeter|saltpetre

satirize|satirise

savior|saviour

savor|savour

scalawag|scallywag

scepter|sceptre

sepulcher|sepulchre

skeptic|sceptic

skillful|skilful

smelled|smelt

smolder|smoulder

somber|sombre

specialty|speciality

specter|spectre

spelled|spelt

spilled|spilt

splendor|splendour

spoiled|spoilt

Sr.|Snr.

stabilize|stabilise

standardize|standardise

story|storey

succor|succour

sulfate|sulphate

sulfide|sulphide

sulfur|sulphur

symbolize|symbolise

syneresis|synaeresis

synesthesia|synaesthesia

tantalize|tantalise

theater|theatre

tidbit|titbit

tire|tyre

toward|towards

traveled|travelled

traveler|traveller

traveling|travelling

trisulfate|trisulphate

troweled|trowelled

troweling|trowelling

tumor|tumour

tyro|tiro

ultrahigh|ultra-high

ultramodern|ultra-modern

valor|valour

vapor|vapour

vaporize|vaporise

vial|phial

vigor|vigour

vise|vice

wagon|waggon

willful|wilful

woolen|woollen

wooly|woolly

worshiped|worshipped

worshiper|worshipper

worshiping|worshipping

_________________________________________

RESOURCES

Cambridge Dictionaries Online features The Cambridge International Dictionary of English, with words and definitions for American, Australian, and British English:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

After you've searched for a word, be sure to click the words found in order to see the full definitions and usage examples.