Purchasing Your Chicago Manual of Style
Does opening your copy of The Chicago Manual of Style trigger vertigo?
Not sure you really need to own a bench-press-weight reference book?
Don’t worry. The Grammar Floozy’s got you covered.
We’re working our way through the book (not necessarily in order).
If you don’t already have a copy of CMOS, check Amazon and ThriftBooks to find a used copy at discount. This puppy’s pricey.
And IF you buy CMOS, be sure it’s the 17th edition.
Why CMOS 17
When I purchased my first CMOS, I looked at the price points, then searched “major differences between CMOS 16 and CMOS 17.” Articles noted a few differences, but I figured I could make notes in CMOS 16 and save a ton of money.
Here’s what I didn’t understand: each section of CMOS is numbered, and each item is numbered within that chapter. Small changes affect the numbering of alllllllll the following information.
Yep.
So, if you—for instance—send an editor-friend a question about a numbered item in CMOS 16, she’ll look up that entry in CMOS 17 and think you’ve lost your mind. Or so I’ve been told.
Finding Information in CMOS
When you search CMOS, forget math. Who wants to do math, anyway?
As we’d expect, each chapter is numbered.
Within each chapter, items are numbered in sequence (e.g., 3.24, 5.1, 11.108). These appear to be decimals.
Appearances can be deceiving. Don’t judge a book by its—well, you know.
The eleventh item in chapter three is 3.11. The third item in chapter six is 6.3. The one hundred thirty-ninth item in chapter sixteen is 16.139. Makes sense, right?
Let’s say we want information about prepositional phrases and personal pronouns. We can find information in 5.44 and 5.183.
Here’s where we need to forget math.
Our fifth grade math teachers said 5.183 comes before 5.44, because if we fill in all decimal places, the compared numbers are actually 5.183 and 5.440, and .440 is more than .183. Right?
Math numbering would indicate we should head to 5.18 (which is actually 5.180), and 5.181 should follow.
NOPE.
Just numbers.
5.18 = chapter 5, item number 18. And 5.180 = chapter 5, item number 180.
I don’t know—maybe you won’t have any issues, but after years of cramming math facts, my brain took an inordinate amount of time to reconfigure the way I see numbers.
