30 November 2006

Thinking Better of A Book Title

My brother has an older edition of Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. It is entitled Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.
Where before their book would teach you how to libel, now it teaches you about media law. That's an improvement in the title.

2 comments:

tammy said...

Dear Doug,

Please reference the difference between using "Where" and "Whereas".

Also, did they change the subject matter of the book or just the title?

Very truly yours,
-T

D said...

I emailed Thomas (not Tom) about this.

He said the following:

Whereas is a conjunction, usually used to join different statements.

[To which I (Douglas) add this example:
Some people like to use very truly yours, whereas I do not.]

Where is an adverb -- I don't need to explain that.

Wherefore means why.

And then, when I asked him whether my blog entry was grammatically correct, he said:

Why even have the where. Before their book taught how to libel; now it teaches you about media law.

Semicolon = underrated.

If you do leave it, it should be whereas because it's still a
conjunction (like while, another misplaced word.) Think whereas in a Congressional resolution.