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Purdue OWL News for March 30, 2004
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The Purdue OWL Staff
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Mar 30, 2004 10:30 PST
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The Purdue OWL News
March 30, 2004
Welcome to the Purdue OWL News!
The Purdue OWL News is an online newsletter about happenings in the
Purdue University Writing Lab and the Purdue University Online Writing
Lab (OWL). You can visit our website at
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu>. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit
<http://www.topica.com/lists/purdueowlnews/subscribe/>. To unsubscribe
from the newsletter, click on the link at the bottom of this email.
Writing Question of the Week
How do we know which adjectives take the suffix -ible and which take
-able?
Answer
It's a matter of convention. -ible is the older suffix, which has by and
large been replaced by the suffix -able on most words. However, words
like accessible, compatible, defensible, terrible, and possible have
remained unchanged. As with many of the English language's oddities,
there is no rule for -ible or -able. And for some words, -ible and -able
forms offer different meanings, e.g. "impassible" means the inability to
experience pain, whereas "impassable" indicates something that cannot be
traversed. Consulting a dictionary is your best bet; usage guru Bryan
Garner suggests that -able is the preferred suffix for a word that has
yet to receive an -able suffix. Just be careful of empty words like
"doable," which tend to be corporate-speak for better words like
"possible."--KS
The OWL Help Nest
Each week we'll publish a request for advice or information. If you wish
to contribute a response to the topic, please write to us at
owln-@owl.english.purdue.edu. Please let us know if you want us to
include your name and/or your email address when we publish your
response. The following week, we'll publish the best information and
advice that we receive in the newsletter. If you have a question for our
readers, please send it to us at owln-@owl.english.purdue.edu.
This Week's Question
I'd like suggestions of how to write a less wooden salutation for a
letter applying for a job or a business letter when no contact name is
given, only an anonymous department or box, such as a human resources
department. Are people still using, "Dear Sir or Madam"?
Answers:
With regard to the salutation to be used when writing the Human
Resources department, when no specific name is known, use simply "Dear
Human Resources department."--Joan O'Leary
As for using a less wooden salutation when applying for a job where no
contact name is given, I would suggest "To Whom It May Concern" since I
feel that "Dear Sir or Madam" is so formal and arcane. I haven't come
across any standard rule for this situation; this is what I have been
using.--Lotte Popovic
Next Week's Questions
I am a Graduate TESL student in Pennsylvania. I need to obtain the 4
most widely-used ADULT textbooks across the U.S. for teaching ESL (at
the adult level, of course). I would appreciate any information you
could provide. Also, if you do not have this information, any idea to
whom I could e-mail my request?
Although it may seem a little strange, and similarly, I wish to extend
my knowledge regarding the usage of "another". Do we say "another one"?
And if we do, does it make sense grammatically and practically as well.
Kindly enlighten me.
What's Happening on OWL
OWL Eye on...Impress your friends with amazing OWL trivia!
We've received a number of requests in recent weeks about Purdue OWL's
history, its current usage, etc.
Purdue OWL History: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/lab/owl/history.html
Purdue OWL Statistics:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/lab/owl/stats/index.html
Purdue OWL Technical Information:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/lab/owl/techinfo.html
What's Happening in the Writing Lab
OWL Eye on...This Week's Workshops
Tuesday, 3/30/04 3:30-4:20 MLA Documentation
Wednesday, 3/31/04 12:00-12:50 Scannable Resumes
OWL Eye on...ESL Conversation Groups
Conversation Group Schedule for Spring 2004:
Mondays 11:00-12:00Noon
Tuesdays 4:30-5:30PM
Wednesdays 11:00-12:00Noon
Thursdays 4:30-5:30PM
Final Thoughts
Thanks for reading our newsletter. You can email us at any time at
owln-@owl.english.purdue.edu. You can also email the OWL coordinator,
Karl Stolley, at coordi-@owl.english.purdue.edu and the webmaster,
Erin Karper, at webma-@owl.english.purdue.edu. (Erin and Karl take
turns writing the newsletter.)
If you received this newsletter as a forward and would like to get your
own subscription, visit
http://www.topica.com/lists/purdueowlnews/subscribe/ to subscribe.
This newsletter is copyright (C) 2004 the Purdue University Writing Lab
and Purdue University. Purdue's OWL is located at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu.
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