Date: Wednesday 22 June 2011

Time: 19.30-21.30

Location: The English Bookshop, Lauriergracht 71, Amsterdam, www.englishbookshop.nl

Contact: Liz Waters

SENSE member Mike Hannay (Professor of English Language at the Vrije Universiteit) has agreed to give a talk at this meeting. As a professional linguist, Mike doesn’t translate or edit these days but continually examines both phenomena. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion, as well as a quick look at any other matters arising.

At the centre of Mike’s talk will be the 'prescriptivist/descriptivist' issue. Prescriptiveness is clearly necessary if we are to have style guides, and when clients ask editors for advice they're not usually keen to be told 'well, that all depends'. On the other hand, our personal preferences can easily turn into prescriptions, and as we all know these hold true only up to a point. Think of 'avoid the passive', 'avoid dangling modifiers' or 'avoid commas afterand'. Even where standard usage exists, the norm in one country or context may be far from the norm in another. Standards change over time too, so as editors and translators we have to be willing both to firm up our rules from time to time and to adjust our long-held preferences.

Mike will get the discussion going by setting out where he stands with regard to matters including split infinitives, 'hopefully' in the sense of 'I hope' and 'therefore' as a conjunction. He's also very interested to hear where other members stand - or decline to stand.

This is a great opportunity to gain a fresh perspective on many of the issues that concern us. 

All SENSE members are welcome. Looking forward to seeing you there. I'll post a reminder nearer the time, but it would be good to hear if you're intending to come.