Benjamin Dreyer's forthcoming book, Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, is part grammar and usage reference and part how-to writing manual, from a copyeditor's perspective. (It's the book I always thought I would write.) The title of the book is telling. This is no … [Read more...]
Journalism Tools for the Modern Copyeditor
Modern copyeditors work on a variety of materials in different industries. Because our interests and needs often intersect with those of other communicators and researchers, looking outside the niche of tools designed for editors can reveal an assortment of useful resources. Some of my favorite … [Read more...]
Tools: What’s On *Your* Freelancing Shelf?
by Jeanette de Beauvoir If I were writing this column ten years ago, the truth is that the shelf I’m about to describe would be far more extensive than what I’m suggesting today. It’s not that we read less in the internet age—if anything, we probably read more—but if you have high-speed access to … [Read more...]
Little Shame over Bad English
Imagine you were charged with keeping English tidy for users and had to follow these rules: A word must have only one meaning. It must have only its oldest meaning. It must have only the meaning related to its etymology. It must not be a synonym. Its prefix and suffix must not … [Read more...]
Collins Speeds Up Lexical Crowdsourcing
All entries in a dictionary are crowdsourced, and they have been for centuries. The words we use rise and fall on popular whim; dictionaries listen to what the crowd is saying and alter definitions and spellings and add or subtract words accordingly. Collins English Dictionary is speeding up the … [Read more...]
Right, Wrong, and Risky: An Unpretentious Usage Guide
I love the serendipity that can happen in a library. Passing by stacks a few weeks ago, I found Right, Wrong, and Risky by Mark Davidson displayed prominently on an endcap. Here was a usage book, that although not new, I hadn’t heard of. The cover looked smart, so I scooped it up, hoping what was … [Read more...]
Punctuation Book is a Good Guide to Perplexing Problems
An important addition to the canon of practical usage guides went on sale this week: June Casagrande’s The Best Punctuation Book, Period. Casagrande’s boldly titled book covers the established rules of punctuation, but it doesn’t shy away from odd constructions (where would you put a hyphen in … [Read more...]
Online Resources Aid Transatlantic Editing
I grew up speaking two languages, the British English of my parents and the American English of my friends and teachers at school. This has made me more aware of some differences between the two forms of English, but ignorant of others. Although I focus more on language differences than most people, … [Read more...]