Proper accents for languages

When you are using a word or phrase from another language, always accent it properly. Some of these things are commonly missed. Words like résumé, moiré, façade, and the like have entered common usage in English. Because InDesign comes with so many languages installed, you can simply change languages for the word in question and spell check there. But if you are using the pine nuts from the Southwest in your cooking, they are piñon nuts. Of course, there is mañana which means not “tomorrow” but “not today” (in New Mexico, anyway). Being from New Mexico, I also know the ubiquitous and unique New Mexican hot peppers are chilé. Chili is that weird stuff (to my taste inedible) with beans and/or meat from Texas.

This type of typography is only common courtesy. You need to be aware that in the old Commonwealth it is still cheque and lorry. In those countries, corporations get plural verbs—as in: Shell Oil are drilling five new off-shore wells south of Norway.

In America, you need to be very careful of local usage. I mentioned the chilé example already. In speech, what is sillier (or more annoying) than an outsider calling the fertile valley south of Portland the
Will•i-a•mette’ Valley instead of the Will•am’•et as it is locally pronounced? You will find that all locales have local usage. You need to use it.

Ellipses…

If you really want to start an argument, ask a group of typesetters how to set an ellipsis. The definition in Wikipedia is, “a series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word, sentence or whole section from the original text being quoted. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence, (aposiopesis), example: “But I thought he was . . .” When placed at the beginning or end of a sentence, the ellipsis can also inspire a feeling of melancholy or longing. The ellipsis calls for a slight pause in speech or any other form of text, but it is incorrect to use ellipses solely to indicate a pause in speech.”

The point is that typographically, an ellipsis is a character or glyph accessed with the Opt+; (PC: Alt+95) with no space in front of it. Go to the Wikipedia page to get a glimpse of the controversy.