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I'd put stepmother and Mr without a . Traditionally Mr had a . - Mr., Mrs. - but for unknown reasons . seems to have been dropped. Is this making any sense at all?
So, should I change it back to Mr? Mr. seemed a bit old-fashioned and over-detailed, but I used it as it was 'correct' - or used to be - when I was a nipper. I've never used that dot with Mrs.
Well done, TN! Mr and Mrs being abbreviations but also titles, they used to have .s. However, the . is now understood (as in, we understand there ought to be one but it's an extravagant use of ink, so we're breaking the rules).
Oh gods! That's the last thing I wanted to read tonight! The agent who's asked for the whole ms of Helter-Skelter says it 'might be difficult to market 'with a male MC.
They probably use their name when speaking to them, but refer to them as stepmother when talking about them especially to people who don't know them. That's what I do (admittedly I'm not a kid, but it's not just kids who have step parents) Also it's not just kids who have to refer to the relationship.
How a stepmother is addressed might depend on the family situation. If the stepchild lives with a mother who is very bitter about Dad's new relationship they might not be so polite.
I doubt 'girlfriend' would be used after marriage.
Liz, I demand that you remove your fly from the ointment forthwith.
It's the author's voice, dahling, that will use the word 'stepmother'. I am sorry to say, that in my (children's) book she is up to no good. Stereotypically, she is as wicked as they come.
The MC's father is always referred to as Mr Mugsworthy-Millions - hence the Mr/Mr. dilemma.
I don't know why I wrote it with an 'e' here. I have written in correctly in the manuscript! Sorry about that.
*hangs head in shame*
To explain the notion of conveyor belt (-) shelves, this is a book where inventions feature heavily.
At Lottery Lodge is a library where, at the touch of a button, the shelves roll around the housing unit horizontally from left to right in a conveyor belt-type way. They will also roll around in a vertical manner like the old-fashioned blackboards. When a book has been read, it has to be posted through a letterbox-shaped aperture and it is automatically replaced in the correct slot due to the gubbins behind it - rather like what happens to suitcases once you have checked them in at the airport, but a lot more sophisticated.
Ah, you mean, it does the job that I used to do as a librarian? Well, I was a library administrator, but I did the job of the librarian on account of there wasn't one. (I was cheaper.) If they'd known they could have had a conveyor belt instead, I'd have been unemployed.
Mr v. Mr.: my understanding (which I think came from Red Editing Pen) is that we use a full stop if the abbreviation contains the first letters of the word, but not otherwise. E.g., st. = street (it contains the first and second letters of the word street) whereas st = saint.
Mr does not contain the first and second letters of mister, therefore there should not be a full stop.
According to the Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Puncutation, Mr is a contraction not an abbreviation: that's to say that the middle letters are missing. No punctuation is attached to contractions as it is to abbreviations.
Comments
Thanks, Ms Baggster.
*rushes off to 'Replace all'*
This editing business is enough to bring on insanity.
Is this making any sense at all?
I've just removed all the dots from Mr in my document.
I've just got to the end of yet another edit. It's almost there.
BTW - I'd say stepmother. After all, one says grandmother.
The agent who's asked for the whole ms of Helter-Skelter says it 'might be difficult to market 'with a male MC.
Back where I were a lad I always wrote it with a .
:-SS
How a stepmother is addressed might depend on the family situation. If the stepchild lives with a mother who is very bitter about Dad's new relationship they might not be so polite.
I doubt 'girlfriend' would be used after marriage.
It's the author's voice, dahling, that will use the word 'stepmother'. I am sorry to say, that in my (children's) book she is up to no good. Stereotypically, she is as wicked as they come.
The MC's father is always referred to as Mr Mugsworthy-Millions - hence the Mr/Mr. dilemma.
b)conveyer belt shelves?
I'm tending towards a), although I've used b)
*poises finger over 'Replace'*
I've developed a hyphen disorder/hyphen-disorder.
It's conveyor belt - but I don't understand the shelves.
NB conveyor with an o not an e.
*hangs head in shame*
To explain the notion of conveyor belt (-) shelves, this is a book where inventions feature heavily.
At Lottery Lodge is a library where, at the touch of a button, the shelves roll around the housing unit horizontally from left to right in a conveyor belt-type way. They will also roll around in a vertical manner like the old-fashioned blackboards. When a book has been read, it has to be posted through a letterbox-shaped aperture and it is automatically replaced in the correct slot due to the gubbins behind it - rather like what happens to suitcases once you have checked them in at the airport, but a lot more sophisticated.
Hence, conveyor belt-shelves.
Oh.
*wonders what Larry Grayson would make of it*
I used to keep a notebook of my inventions. Don't know what happened to that. It should be me living on Necker Island, not Richard Branson.
Me too.
*looks round and sees self looking virginal in mirror*
Wanna fly me?
Mr does not contain the first and second letters of mister, therefore there should not be a full stop.
Just got my proof back and one of my proofreaders has hyphened rooms, e.g. dining-room, living-room. I don't think that's right.