In such a world

Example 1:
"Let's break down Transfers into component parts:"

Example 2:
"Here's a breakdown of Transfers into component parts:"

For a post on my econ blog, I revised the first example to eliminate the "let's" because I think "let's" is creepy. But in the process, the words "break down" changed to one word.

In the first example we're doing something. We're breaking down something. So I think "break down" is a verb.

In the second example we're looking at something. We're looking at a thing, a breakdown. Since the breakdown is a thing, I'm thinking "breakdown" is a noun.

As a noun, it's one word. As a verb, it's two words.

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At work, when we do a "big picture" drawing we call it a "layout". A layout is a particular kind of drawing. A drawing is a thing. So "layout" is a thing, a noun. One word.

When the guys in the shop start to build something, their first step is to grab some boards and lay them out in the workspace. They "lay out" the boards. It's a verb, and it's two words.

Why? I don't know why. But I know it is correct to say "Lay out the boards from the left end" (or, from wherever). And I know it's illiterate to say "Layout the boards from the left end".

//

When the economy goes bad, illiterate people are more often in charge. Oh, it's not because illiterate people are in charge that the economy goes bad. No. But when the economy goes bad, people have to focus more on money to do well. In such a world, literate people, apparently, have the wrong focus.

That's why they call it a "dark" age.

"Both this and also that"

"Both this and that".

"This and that".

Take the dog out

One of the best things I do when I'm writing is to stop writing when the dog needs attention. Pay attention to the puppy. Grab an end of the pull-toy. Check the water bowl. Break out the treats. All of the above.

It's not foolproof, but often when I come back to the computer, the next sentence is in my fingertips, ready to come out.

Plus, I had fun with the dog.

Be explicit!!!

Draw conclusions from the graphs!
Be explicit!!!
Tell people what I expect them to see in the graphs.

(From my daily notes)

Ya gotta love to write

My economy-related posts usually come to me in quick flashes. I try to write them down quickly, at least the key insight and a few of the explorations flooding my brain. It always takes longer then, to find the numbers or develop the graphs that will confirm or confound the initial flash.

And there is always the question to be resolved, of whether the quick flash was an insight or a glitch.

"Uh half hour"

The unit of time is the hour. If you need half of one, it's half an hour. Not "a half hour".

To my ear "a half hour" is crude, raucous, and illiterate. "Half an hour" is almost musical. But I guess the people on TV, news people, don't hear it the way I do.

I don't care. I'm not saying it the way they say it. I don't care.

Sic

What do you do when you want to quote something because it's important for what you have to say, but there is a mistake in the text you want to quote?

You can stick a "[sic]" in there.

That's what I was gonna do. Somebody misspelled the word "ideological". It came out as "idealogical" which was kinda funny and quite distracting.

But does sticking a sic in there make it less distracting? Not really. Just the opposite, I think. It draws attention to the error and distracts the reader from your important message.

But I wasn't thinking that way. I just looked up how to use sic properly. Then I found this example and commentary in Wikipedia:

"Professor Smith stated that 'in the Domesday Book of 1087 [sic]' the king owned more manors than any other person." The professor had given the incorrect date for Domesday Book (recte 1086) and leaving his error uncorrected followed by [sic] emphasises that the error was his. The professor has thus been somewhat ridiculed. A more diplomatic way of quoting the professor would have been to omit the date altogether whilst retaining the substance of his argument or simply to have corrected it in the knowledge that it was a "slip of the pen".

That was useful.

It's okay to make minor corrections to quoted text. Good to know.

Cut to the chase

I've gotten better at trimming loose ends from the end of my posts. Usually, I read thru what I've written until it gets confusing, and then cut off the confusing part. It seems to work pretty well.

But I also have trouble getting to the point. I sorta have to get warmed up first. I write about related irrelevant things like trimming loose ends from the end of my posts, when really what I want to say is:

Find the thing that you really want to say, and just keep that part.