I was recently at a conference entitled, "Sign Posting the Future in EBHC" (EBHC is evidence-based health care). The people who designed the conference were from the U.K.

I have to say, being a literalist anyway, it took me awhile to understand "sign posting the future". I was thinking..."post a sign"? Is that common terminology that I've just not heard? Or, is it more common in the U.K. than in the U.S.?

Common enough, though we would usually write signpost as one word rather than two.

Glaubt es mir - das Geheimnis, um die größte Fruchtbarkeit und den größten Genuß vom Dasein einzuernten, heisst: gefährlich leben.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

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I had never heard "signpost" used as a verb before, but M-W lists it as a transitive verb dating back to 1895 meaning "to provide with signposts or guides". Apparently the title of the conference used "sign posting" (sic) in a metaphorical sense. But, then, maybe I just don't understand it.

Tinman

Okay, here is the Web site, so you see that they used 2 words.

Now, I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but the whole time I had thought it was a title about their signs posting the conference. When I was talking to some people there from the U.K., I said, "Don't you think that is an unclear name for a conference?" I had been pronouncing it signposting. They said, "signposting the future? No, that's clear to us." Well, hearing them put the emphasis on the "posting" made me finally realize what it had meant. Needless to say, I said nothing to them, and merely shook my head.

Well, the main objective for the conference was "...To create a blueprint for research and development of tools and strategies for the future of EBHC teaching ..."

Well, leaving aside the rather pompous language, what they are saying is that they are examing ways of looking to the future of their operation.

To signpost means to me "to show the way ahead, to indicate direction". And I think that is a pefect description of what the confenence was intended to do.

However, to "sign post" is not the same thing at all. If it means anything in UK English it would mean to sign letters before committing them to the tender mercies of the Royal Mail!

I suspect the organisers meant "to signpost" and didn't get their translations proofed!

Richard English

That is hilarious, and may, in fact, be true. Here are major scientists from around the world (Oxford, Mayo Clinic, etc.), using the wrong terminology in the name of their conference. The funny part is that they were big on signs. There were large signs in the airport, the hotel, and at the conference. No wonder I thought they were talking about signs!

I believe it is a requirement of the Guild of Signwriters that their graduates have to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the examiners, a consistent inability to spell or punctuate correctly.

More than three examples of the correct use of any one of:

The apostrophe
The hyphen
Possessive or plural s's
Capitalisation

will lead to automatic failure or the examination and a transfer to the Guardian newspaper's proof-readers training scheme.

Richard English

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard English:
More than three examples of the correct use of any one of:

The apostrophe
The hyphen
Possessive or plural s's
Capitalisation

will lead to automatic failure or the examination and a transfer to the Guardian newspaper's proof-readers training scheme.

---

[innocent look on his face] Should the letters I emphasized above be upper-case, or lower case?

This is something I have been trying to find a rule about for many years.

Technically words following a colon do not take a capital. However, in bulleted, numbered or even plain lists the rule is unclear.

If you do not capitalise the individual words then you need a full stop at the end of the last one. Which looks awkward.

If you capitalise each word then technically you need a full stop at the end of each one-word sentence - and that looks awkward as well since it tries to stop the eye from moving down the list.

Without full stops I find the list flows better.

If I could find a definitive rule (and, believe me I have tried) then I would stick to it. However, I have never found such a rule and I have seen lists using every possible format.

Richard English

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard English:
This is something I have been trying to find a rule about for many years.

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Here is your rule, R.E.:


The CJ Strolin Rule of Capitalization of Items in a List

The first word of separate items written in a list or column each take a capital letter in order to present a uniform appearance which is pleasing to the eye. No periods (full stops) are required.


(Glad to have been of assistance!)

Although the name C J Strolin is not one I have seen in any list of famous lexicographers (except on this board, of course) I am pleased to note that the rule he suggests is the one I use.

Richard English

Dear god, CJ and Richard agree on something? This calls for a be... never mind.