Helpful hints from work – #16

(This is the latest in a series of tips I write for work. This one was specifically requested because people in the office had been confusing the terms.)

This week’s tip: flesh out vs flush out

These words are only one letter apart, but they have very different meanings. These hints can help you pick the right phrase:
“Flesh out” means to give something substance or make it more complete.

- Danny Ocean told his team, “We already agreed on a basic plan of how to rob the casinos, so now let’s flesh out the details.”

- I want to flesh out my collection of windup tin toys. You can never have too many metallic robots and miniature cars!

“Flush out” means to force something/someone into the open, or to eliminate something by the act of flushing.

- The officer deliberately left the keys in his car because he hoped to flush out the local thief who had been stealing police cruisers.

- Jill had to flush out her French horn after her little brother decided to fill it with pudding.

Cool drug words (HIV/virology edition)

My agency works with a company that manufactures tests to determine if a patient’s strain of HIV will be susceptible to certain drugs (antivirals). The drug names mentioned in those virology and diagnostic pieces are huge tongue twisters! I appreciate that so many have underused letters like v and z. The notations in parentheses are the drug abbreviations (which sometimes don’t seem to match the full name at all!).

atazanavir
maraviroc (MVC)
efavirenz (EFV)
emtricitabine (FTC)
nelfinavir
nevirapine
ritonavir
saquinavir/r
darunavir/r
tenofovir
zidovudine (AZT)
zidovudine and lamivudine (CBV)
lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/RTV)
stavudine (D4T)
lamivudine (3TC)
azidothymidine/abacavir sulfate/lamivudine (AZT/ABC/3TC)
abacavir sulfate/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/didanosine (ABC/TDF/ddl)
fosamprenavir/ritonavir

Helpful hints from work – #15

(This is the latest in a series of tip e-mails that I pass along at work.)

This week’s tip: when to use since and because

“Since” and “because” are often used as if they’re interchangeable, but they do have specific meanings. Remember these basic guidelines:

“Since” relates to a period of time.
- George had been a fan of dragons since he was in first grade.
- Since buying a flame-resistant shield, Sir Gallant has felt much safer.

“Because” expresses a reason.
- Because dragons like to kidnap princesses and burn knights, most people think they’re horrible beasts.
- George likes dragon stories because they always contain lots of action.

*Note: This is a very simplified explanation, meant to appeal to people who aren’t writers and who might get confused with nuances between meanings. See the AMA Manual of Style for a more comprehensive explanation, including the difference between because, since, and as.

Helpful hints from work – #14

(This is the latest in a series of tip e-mails that I pass along at work.)

This week’s tip: the difference between farther and further

Use “farther” if you’re talking about something you can measure, like a real distance.
- It’s rainy and the restaurant you mentioned is farther from the office. Let’s just eat taquitos at the 7-Eleven next door.
- It was much farther to drive to New York for a bagel than to get one at the local Jewel, but Janet had a serious craving for lox.

Use “further” if you can’t physically measure something, like an abstract idea or point in time.
- Until further notice, please don’t taunt Dr. Jekyll. We’re afraid he’ll sink further into madness.
- No, kids, you’re not getting a pet alligator. I’ve said no before and we will not discuss this any further.

Weird ingredient names

Health columnists and nutritionists often urge people not to eat foods with ingredients they can’t pronounce. If the same rule applied to medications, we’d be out of luck! Just look at the doozy of a list from our client’s medical device cream for seborrheic dermatitis (and this is just a partial selection — there are other odd-sounding compounds in the mix!).

- isohexadecane
- butyrospermum parkii
- ethylhexyl palmitate
- PEG-30 dipolyhydroxystearate
- bisabolol
- ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate
- glycyrrhetinic acid

Helpful hints from work – #13

(This is the latest in a series of tip e-mails that I pass along at work. We recently launched a blog on our corporate intranet, so my tips will start being featured there about once a month instead of being e-mailed every week or two. Guess with that timing change I’ll just refer to the tips by number from now on.)

The difference between “ie” and “eg”
These abbreviations of Latin phrases are easy to confuse, but here are some pointers.

ie (id est) means “that is.” Use it when rephrasing a sentence, as if you were saying “in other words.”
- He changed cable companies just to get all of the March Madness games, ie, he can’t live without college basketball.

eg (exempli gratia) means “for example.” Think of it as “example given,” which also has the initials eg. Use it when giving possibilities for the term in question.
- I love anything to do with bears, eg, teddy bears, pandas, Chicago football teams.
- Her favorite fruits were red, eg, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, apples.

[Note: My company's internal style is not to use periods with these terms, although you might see them as e.g. or i.e. elsewhere.]

Helpful hints from work – Week 12

(This is the latest in a series of tip e-mails that I send out at work.)

Today’s tip: who vs that

It’s important to choose the right pronouns for people and animals.

Use “who” to refer to people:
Wrong: Stars hate paparazzi that stalk them.
Right: Stars hate paparazzi who stalk them.

Use “that” to refer to animals:
Right: Trained puppies that were featured in “Air Bud” visited a children’s hospital after filming.
Right: Rat test subjects that had adverse events were likely to display blue fur and orange whiskers.

Fun with fruit flies

The 50th annual Drosophila Research Conference was in Chicago last week, celebrating the scientists who spend time analyzing fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Why are flies so important? Read on for a great look at the ways researchers are studying this common household pests to learn more about circadian rhythms, kidney cancer, even sexual orientation:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-fruit-flies-06-mar06,0,4669447.story

Even though researching fruit flies is a serious endeavor, scientists still get to show their senses of humor in naming new strains with mutated traits. Ken and Babie flies are just the beginning …
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-fruitflies-sidebarmar06,0,2578129.story

Cool dermatology words

My ad agency works on a lot of dermatology products (for acne, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, etc), and many of the words from those pieces caught my eye for theirweird spellings or pronunciations. Some of my favorites:

desquamation – The peeling off of skin in the form of scales.

Propionibacterium acnes – A bacterium that can block pores and lead to acne.

seborrheic dermatitis – A red, scaly, itchy dermatitis (skin condition) chiefly affecting areas, such as the face, scalp, or chest, with many large sebaceous (oil) glands.

Malassezia furfur – A yeast naturally found on the skin’s surface that can overgrow and cause infections that result in dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, or certain skin rashes.

keratolytic – Related to the process of breaking down or dissolving keratin.

adapalene, tazarotene, and isotretinoin – Topical retinoids (chemical compounds related to vitamin A) used for the treatment of skin conditions.

allergenicity – The quality of being able to induce allergies or an allergic reaction.

It’s National Grammar Day!

Happy National Grammar Day! In honor of the holiday (which was designated for March 4 by the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar and MSN Encarta), here are some fun grammar-related links I’ve been saving. I won’t urge you to make grammar-themed food or drinks, although there are recipes for that on the holiday’s Web site, but I hope today encourages you to watch your grammar every day of the year.

National Grammar Day site:
http://nationalgrammarday.com/

Movies and popular culture can’t get grammar right (especially I vs me):
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Columns/?article=RuiningMovies&GT1=27004

Even the president isn’t immune to grammar gaffes (especially I vs me):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/opinion/24oconner.html?em