Quoting

Today’s News Roundup offers arguments on accepting comprised of, not changing quotes for style reasons, and using literally to mean “figuratively.” Plus a headline failure and a grammar quiz.

Top pick

Jonathon Owen explains why it’s time to give up the comprise/compose fight in “Comprised of Fail.” (Arrant Pedantry)

More great articles

In today’s News Roundup, a caution to keep your writers from becoming parrots, plus usage lessons, a quiz, and your Friday bonus.

Top pick

Bill Walsh explains why J.C. Penny is not “permanently cutting its prices” in “Penny Want a Cracker?” (Blogslot)

More great articles

In today’s News Roundup, we celebrate the finish of America’s regional dictionary, we take care with political words, and more.

Top pick

The Dictionary of American Regional English is “a dictionary like no other,” and the final volume is now in production. Read more at “From Aa to Zydeco, It’s in DARE.” (Lingua Franca)

More great articles

In the infographic résumés post from earlier this week, I quoted Eugene Woo, cofounder of Visualize.me, one of the services you can use to convert your LinkedIn profile into an eye-catching infographic résumé. The quote came from a Business Insider interview with Woo: “The Founder Of Vizualize.Me Explains Why Paper Resumes Are Obsolete.” 

In today’s News Roundup, we look at using the troublesome ellipsis in quotes, as well as references for your bookshelf, measuring the worth of full-time editors, and some lighthearted views of language.

Top pick

Carol Saller wraps up her series on quotations with tips on using the ellipsis in “Quoting Well, Part 3: Dot Dot Dot.” (Lingua Franca)

More great articles

It can be discouraging to be a copyeditor these days. Today’s News Roundup features an article on why one newspaper copyeditor is sticking with it.

Top pick

With copyediting taking such a hard hit in the last few years, why would anyone stay in the industry? Pam Nelson explains why she’s staying in “Why I Am Still a Copy Editor” (The Grammar Guide)

More great articles

Today’s News Roundup looks at what you can change in a quote, a couple of etymology lessons, and, of course, some grammar and usage tips.

Top pick

University of Chicago Press’s Carol Saller tells you what you can change in a quotation in “Quoting Well, Part 2: When It’s OK, and Not OK, to Meddle.” (Lingua Franca)

More great articles

In today’s News Roundup we discover when it’s OK to fix a quote, get more wisdom from The Old Editor, learn more etymology, and wonder what’s going on at Old Navy.

Top pick

Carol Saller offers a few tips for dealing with quotes in text—including when it’s OK to fix a quote—in “Quoting Well, Part 1: It’s More Than Just Accuracy.” (Lingua Franca)

More great articles

Featured today is the full-length video of The Chicago Manual of Style’s recent panel to celebrate the manual's first century. Following on that is a look at individual words, plagiarism, and spelling.

Top pick

If you missed last week’s panel on The Chicago Manual of Style, you can watch it in its entirety on Youtube: The Chicago Manual: More Than a Century of Style. (Youtube)

Further reading