The ABI Reporter E-Letter Articles

27Dec2013

Grammatical Preference

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What do you prefer? Where did you work when — Strike that. Where are you working? Where did you work when — strike that. Where are you working? Where did you work when — strike that — where are you working? Where did you work when — strike that — Where are you working?
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01Dec2013

Missing the Message

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By Jennifer Moritz, Dixon Schwabl
Not long ago, the word world spun into a frenzy when someone discovered that several dictionaries had added a second definition for the word “literally.” Now, instead of meaning “actually,” it also means “Just kidding, not really.” For the better part of a week,
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01Aug2013

The Importance of Proofreading

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By Kathy Sieckman, PP, PLS, CLA
Believe it or not, people are judging you every day by your grammar skills—or a lack thereof. A letter, email, or document from your firm may be the first (and only) impression that a client, opposing counsel, judge, or prospective client gets of you,
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01Jan2013

Is Your Dictionary Getting in the Way of Realtime?

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By Anissa R. Nierenberger
When the National Court Reporters Association launched the Writing our Future initiative, it set for members a lofty goal: get everyone to write realtime. Anyone who attended last year’s NCRA annual convention in Las Vegas got that message again — big time. The realtime goal is its number one priority.
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01Feb2012

Write Shorter

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By Ron Cook, CCR, RMR, CRR, Premier Realtime, Seattle
After years and years (I won’t admit how many) of dutifully writing things out, for the past five-plus years, I have been steadily trying to compact my writing style. I have kept my eyes and ears open for any and all briefs and techniques that make sense to me.
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01Mar2010

Hyphenating Letter-For-Letter Spelling

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Most of us know that we hyphenate letter-for-letter spelling. These rules talk about the capitalization and what it looks like when the spelling is started mid-word or is interrupted and then picked up again.
HYPHEN RULE: Hyphenate letter-for-letter spelling. I spoke with Mary Donnell, D-o-n-n-e-l-l. It is 438 Sepulveda,
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01Jan2010

Brief Forms of the Suffix “Ship”

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The California Court Reporting Association
Recently received an inquiry from a reporter taking an NCRA test, and she said that the word “leadership” threw her off. She did not have a brief form for it and wished she had. Below is a list of words containing the suffix “ship.”
Acquaintanceship KWAIP Apprenticeship PRAEP Atty-Client Relationship TOERL Authorship THAORP Bipartisanship BARP Casual Relationship KAUFLGS Censorship SHORP Chairmanship CHARP Championship CHAOP Citizenship SHOIP Companionship SKAOP Conservatorship SKEFRP Dealership DLERP Distributorship DRIRP Fellowship FLEP Friendship FRIP or FROIP Hardship H-RP or HOIRP Home ownership HOERP Internship SPWERP Leadership LERP or LOIRP Membership MEP Ownership OERP or OIP Partnership PIP or POIRP Proprietorship PRORP Receivership SAOEFRP Relationship RAEP Salesmanship SMIP Scholarship SKLARP Sexual Relationship SWREP Sole Proprietorship SPRIP Sponsorship SPOIP Survivorship SWAOIFRP Township TWIP Sponsorship SPOIP Trusteeship TROIP Workmaship WRA*P ©Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.
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01Jan2010

The Word “However”

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By Margie Wakeman Wells, College of Court Reporting
The word “however” can have different functions within a sentence. Depending on the function, punctuation differs. RULE: Use a semicolon or period in front and a comma after the word “however” when it is used as the first word in a sentence.
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01Oct2009

Trailing Off and Splitting Words

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By Margie Wakeman Wells
The Dash or the Ellipsis for Trailing Off The use of the ellipsis to show trailing off has gained favor in many segments of the court reporting community. Many reporters express a desire to distinguish between a speaker who trails off and a speaker who is interrupted.
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