News

Today’s News Roundup helps you solve one pesky grammar problem, discusses the business side of copyediting, and reflects on the beauty of language.

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Once they’re pointed out to you, you’ll find them everywhere. How to fix a dangling followed in “Dangling Followed.” (Shearson Editorial Services)

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It’s Monday, copyeditors, as today’s News Roundup makes clear. Grammar Girl weighs in on the spelling debate, The Chicago Reader argues the need for copyeditors in journalism, and we’ve found some language lessons to get this week started. Let’s go!

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Mignon Fogarty talks common sense about the recent spelling debate in “Should We Abandon Standard Spelling?” (Grammar Girl)

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In today’s News Roundup: will newspapers ever learn? Plus Statistics for Editors, style guide advice, and your Friday bonus.

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John McIntyre explains why thinning the editorial ranks is a bad thing in “The Thinning Ranks.” (You Don’t Say)

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Today’s News Roundup makes the point that language does not regulate thought. Plus, a look at nauseous, rend, and more.

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Just because a language lacks a word doesn’t mean it lacks a concept. Read more in “No Words for Individual Rights.” (Johnson)

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I already have a reading list that’s longer than my life expectancy could reasonably be expected to support. But that rarely keeps me from adding books to the list. Oxford University Press has provided the two most recent additions: Speaking American: A History of English in the United States by the late Richard W.

Today’s News Roundup faces off against the Facts/Truth Dichotomy and governments that legislate language. Plus we look at business advice for freelancers, a checklist for all copyeditors, and some Friday fun.

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Irregardless a word? Kory Stamper explains the Facts/Truth Dichotomy in “Facts and Truth, Irregardless.” (Harmless Drudgery)

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The 2012 Academy Awards Nominations List was announced this week. The academy invites us to “celebrate the movies in all of us,” but celebrating and recognizing the books and tales that led to the movies is a little more my speed. 

Yesterday, members of the American Dialect Society (ADS) voted occupy as the 2011 Word of the Year at their annual conference in Portland, Oregon. Of all the Word of the Year contests, the ADS's is not only the oldest but also the most influential. Each year for 22 years, members of the society devoted to the study of language have been choosing the Word of the Year at their annual meeting.

Update: The votes are in! See the American Dialect Society's website for a PDF of the complete tallies and winners (and definitions). See below for a list of the winners in each category. 

In “A Tumultuous Year in Books,” Peter Osnos of Public Affairs Books describes a “historic shift” in the publishing industry: “the widespread acceptance of digital devices and a simultaneous contraction of shelf space in stores” (The Atlantic).