Questions over spelling and grammar are not uncommon among the folks here at The News Observer.
Neither are discussions over style, such as how a word is or is not abbreviated.
Spelling and grammar questions usually answer themselves, often times as soon as the words are spoken out loud.
Style can sometimes be a little more confusing. That’s because the Associated Press Stylebook, which we use in almost all instances, is often different from the English language.
We also have our own stylebook that differs from both in some ways.
An example is days of the week and months of the year. We don’t abbreviate them at all, we spell them out.
This style follows the official rules in neither the English language or the AP Stylebook. But the reasoning behind our style is simple – I believe spelling words in their entirety and avoiding abbreviations makes reading easier. And we’re writing for you, our reader.
Sometimes, though, a question can rise to a full fledged, look it up, hunt it down, debate.
This happened just last week over “Gravely” Gap.
The location appeared in a news story and the editorial regarding annexation. But Gravely was spelled two different ways.
In the news story, it was spelled with two ls, Gravelly. The editorial had is spelled with one l.
So I asked Mollie, who wrote the story, where she found the two l spelling. She referred to Google maps. I knew that had to be wrong.
My spelling in the editorial came from using one l, the spelling of Gravely that has been around ever since I can remember.
So we debated. Mollie, Sydney and I went back and forth for a couple of hours. We even solicited opinions from a couple of folks outside the office.
Finally, I gave in and it was spelled Gravelly.
But giving in didn’t mean I gave up. The spelling bothered me all evening Monday.
So Tuesday morning, before the final pages were sent to the printer, I went to the bound copies of The News Observer.
Pulling the book from early 1990s off the shelf, I immediately found the Community Supermarket ad. Sure enough, it was located on Highway 5 at Gravely Gap.
That was exactly what I was looking for.
I remember the days when Verlin “Chili” Newman, Marty Godfrey and Roy Kovsky owned, in separate years, the thriving grocery store just north of Gravely Gap.
I remember the ads for the Piggly Wiggly, Community Supermarket and Kovsky’s Supermarket.
I knew they said Gravely Gap, I just had to see if for myself.
So, in last week’s pages and in future references, Gravely will be spelled the way it always has been, with one l.
Google Maps cannot undo history.
Glenn Harbison is publisher/editor of The News Observer. He can be reached at 706-632-2019 or by email at glenn@thenewsobserver.com.