I could explicitly told-you-so (but of course I won't) over a novel we published in which the author couldn't go two lines of dialogue without italicizing something or somethings, and they got called on it in a number of reviews.
If you're so inclined, click on the headline to reread the piece in its updated online form; I'm pretty sure the typos have been entirely exterminated. (But you needn't. I think I got 'em all.) And: Thank you. I thought that "liquidly bilingual" was a fun thing to type.
I go for the asteralic, as in comments here on Substack, where's there's *no* way (that I've found) to create an italic. I think this should spread far and wide.
The thing about italics here is that sometimes you can create them in comments, I find; you just can't get them to stick when you post. Which rather defeats the purpose. I also really like "asteralic." So well done on that.
I've never found italics intrusive and often found them helpful. Italics for emphasis in dialogue have served me well (I think!?). But going back to see if there isn't another effective way to render the emphasis clear through structure makes sense. Thank you.
This piece was a deliciously satisfying read because the exemplification of effective use of italics in the piece itself so perfectly matched your guidelines. Nicely done.
I remember the first time I noticed italics in a novel. It was in a lesser known L.M. Montgomery novel, possibly "Jane of Lantern Hill," and I remember thinking to myself, "She's experimenting with style changes." One thing she did was use italics for one particularly obnoxious character, using them to mark the inflections in that character's speech. She was generally reserved with her use of italics, so it stood out in this case and was beautifully effective at getting across the voice of this singularly irritating character. On the other hand, her use of ellipses... For every breath... And thought... Did begin to get on my nerves in that book.
I was a teenager, perhaps 17 or 18? I know I was young enough to feel the allure of a breathless ellipsis. And even so my fingers itched to pick up a pen and knock a few off the page by a few chapters in. It must have been pretty excessive if even a teenaged girl with dreams of being Greta Garbo specifically in La Dame aux Camélias thought the ellipses were a bit much.
Whoa, that movie was called Camille? I must have been so mesmerized by her in that black dress that I never registered the name of the movie. In fact, the movie was in English, so it should certainly not have had a French title. The memory is an odd thing, or at least mine is.
I read that part in Dreyer's English about italics in dialogue a little too late for my second novel going to print, but have stuck by that rule ever since.
As a bilingual writer and translator, I enjoyed reading this. English words and phrases often get absorbed by other languages—and usually they don’t get italicized.
Now that you mention it, I’m not sure I’ve ever observed the use of our English-language convention of italicizing foreign terms in any of our sibling languages….
“(not only to me, to be sure, but, sure, to me)” — surely! (Don’t call me …)
A wordsmith’s dream sentence. (Yours, not mine.)
Perfection No. 2 — an all-hands discussion of hands … both handsy and handsome.
On your trip to Florence … I suppose they all spoke Italics there.
Clever! Made me :)
Thank you—laughter, a rare commodity these days, is to be encouraged.
It's only fair that weltschmerz should be shared by all.
PRECISELY.
Sigh
Thanks—I kinda needed the advice about using italics for emphasis.
I could explicitly told-you-so (but of course I won't) over a novel we published in which the author couldn't go two lines of dialogue without italicizing something or somethings, and they got called on it in a number of reviews.
The past is a foreign country, and sometimes Weissy-wursty.
One takes the good with the bad, and the best with the wurst.
Often the wurst is the best. #GermanLogic
uh-oh. Coupla typos in there, Benj. But I do like how "liquidly bilingual" rolls off the tongue..
If you're so inclined, click on the headline to reread the piece in its updated online form; I'm pretty sure the typos have been entirely exterminated. (But you needn't. I think I got 'em all.) And: Thank you. I thought that "liquidly bilingual" was a fun thing to type.
Can we talk about that colon after "is"?
Rather depends what we want to say about it, I suppose.
Do you disagree with the Garner (and my beloved Words Into Type) that you should not put a colon between a verb and its object or complement?
Apparently.
I go for the asteralic, as in comments here on Substack, where's there's *no* way (that I've found) to create an italic. I think this should spread far and wide.
The thing about italics here is that sometimes you can create them in comments, I find; you just can't get them to stick when you post. Which rather defeats the purpose. I also really like "asteralic." So well done on that.
I appreciate that one size does not fit all.
I've never found italics intrusive and often found them helpful. Italics for emphasis in dialogue have served me well (I think!?). But going back to see if there isn't another effective way to render the emphasis clear through structure makes sense. Thank you.
And this is how we meet in the middle. Though I think I might also say that we’re simply in agreement.
This piece was a deliciously satisfying read because the exemplification of effective use of italics in the piece itself so perfectly matched your guidelines. Nicely done.
I remember the first time I noticed italics in a novel. It was in a lesser known L.M. Montgomery novel, possibly "Jane of Lantern Hill," and I remember thinking to myself, "She's experimenting with style changes." One thing she did was use italics for one particularly obnoxious character, using them to mark the inflections in that character's speech. She was generally reserved with her use of italics, so it stood out in this case and was beautifully effective at getting across the voice of this singularly irritating character. On the other hand, her use of ellipses... For every breath... And thought... Did begin to get on my nerves in that book.
It's amazing how easy it is to delete ellipses. Or at least it should be easy.
And thank you!
I was a teenager, perhaps 17 or 18? I know I was young enough to feel the allure of a breathless ellipsis. And even so my fingers itched to pick up a pen and knock a few off the page by a few chapters in. It must have been pretty excessive if even a teenaged girl with dreams of being Greta Garbo specifically in La Dame aux Camélias thought the ellipses were a bit much.
Whoa, that movie was called Camille? I must have been so mesmerized by her in that black dress that I never registered the name of the movie. In fact, the movie was in English, so it should certainly not have had a French title. The memory is an odd thing, or at least mine is.
I read that part in Dreyer's English about italics in dialogue a little too late for my second novel going to print, but have stuck by that rule ever since.
A well-placed italicized word works for me...but, I agree with you, not too often
Can weltschmerz coexist with extreme anxiety?
As a bilingual writer and translator, I enjoyed reading this. English words and phrases often get absorbed by other languages—and usually they don’t get italicized.
Now that you mention it, I’m not sure I’ve ever observed the use of our English-language convention of italicizing foreign terms in any of our sibling languages….
I am going to start stetting people who disagree with my logical statements.
That's the way to do it!