tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51580722011-12-14T20:47:44.108-06:00A copy-editing blog covering grammar and newspapers like they're going out of style. Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.comBlogger14541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-31578438398911895592011-05-03T09:00:00.002-05:002011-05-03T09:02:57.101-05:00

This blog is now closed, and I've begun moderating comments. Please feel free to email the author at nicole@nicolestockdale.com.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-35884179245318558822009-04-20T17:20:00.007-05:002009-04-24T09:24:17.655-05:00

Peeking out of my blogging coffin to share this tidbit with all you overworked copy editors, if schadenfreude's your thing: The Nationals are making copy-editing (and baseball uniform) news with their latest misstep: Two players were sporting uniforms with the team name spelled "Natinals." (They quickly switched to properly spelled garb, but the damage was done.)To make matters worse, the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-88129318714072024172008-04-29T19:09:00.000-05:002008-04-29T19:10:35.240-05:00

While I'm blogging ... I should also link to another Ask the Editor column I wrote for The Dallas Morning News. This one is about my duties as Sunday opinion editor. And cocktail parties.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-82027792414908585422008-04-29T19:06:00.002-05:002008-04-29T19:23:20.820-05:00

An apt description of my editing life can be summed up by this Onion story:Commas, Turning Up, Everywhere.onion_embed {background: rgb(256, 256, 256) !important;border: 4px solid rgb(65, 160, 65);border-width: 4px 0 1px 0;margin: 10px 30px !important;padding: 5px;overflow: hidden !important;zoom: 1;}.onion_embed img {border: 0 !important;}.onion_embed a {display: inline;}.onion_embed a.img {float

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-26319983041886433942008-03-05T00:22:00.002-06:002008-04-02T16:24:25.156-05:00

But I was asked to write a column for my newspaper's Web site on some copy-editing issues -- when readers complain about errors that aren't. I got to cover some of my favorite topics (including "just deserts" and "the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put." Check it out at The Morning News' Ask the Editor section.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-31411819571114985622007-05-30T21:30:00.000-05:002007-05-30T23:15:30.301-05:00

Here goes a few belated recaps from the ACES conference sessions. I'll start with Merrill Perlman's great "If I Knew Only" presentation. It was the perfect way to get the conference going, focusing on nuts-and-bolts editing and some bugaboos writers and editors often miss.Merill had the perfect example about how the placement of "only" can change the meaning of a sentence. Start with "I hit him

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-21019532503198279292007-04-18T21:32:00.000-05:002007-04-18T21:39:39.876-05:00

I'm in Florida for the ACES conference. Please take the time to say hi if you're here!Doug Fisher and I will be presenting a session on "blogging for editors" tomorrow afternoon, and I fully expect someone to take me to task for not having blogged lately. I'll try to make up for that by posting here and at the conference blog (which should get going shortly).Now off for a beer ...

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-23389013258340659762007-03-22T13:10:00.000-05:002007-03-22T13:21:27.389-05:00

A look at some posts today in my other blogging job shows the perils of relying on anonymous sources. Politico.com broke the news that John Edwards was going to announce that his campaign was on hold because his wife's cancer was back. Headline: Edwards to suspend campaign. Then Edwards had his news conference, confirmed the cancer news, and said the campaign wouldn't be affected. Politico's new

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-46155818800438711922007-03-20T17:12:00.000-05:002007-03-20T17:27:02.673-05:00

NPR's "On the Media" will be covering the McJob news next week. n his 1991 novel Generation X, Douglas Coupland coined the term "McJob," to denote – as the OED now defines it – "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects." Now McDonald's is waging a battle to get dictionaries to redefine the term. Of course, McDonald's isn't the only trademarked name to be co-opted in an unflattering way.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-72762987596919506602007-03-20T10:10:00.001-05:002007-03-20T10:10:24.723-05:00

McDonald's has actually launched a lobbying effort to get the dictionary definition of "McJob" changed. We believe that it is out of date, out of touch with reality and most importantly it is insulting to those talented, committed, hard-working people who serve the public every day," wrote David Fairhurst, chief people office in northern Europe, in a letter seeking support for change uncovered

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-65046927861776496912007-03-19T07:47:00.000-05:002007-03-19T11:52:35.826-05:00

Via Kottke.org comes this great example of verbing: The verbing of English nouns continues unabated. A music producer being sentenced for attempted theft tells the court that he's got six children "on the way". The judge thinks he's marrying a women with 6 children but the producer replies, "No, I be concubining".Read the original, in the Cincinnati Enquirer.More on verbing from A Capital Idea:

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-18193206937906686572007-03-17T10:11:00.000-05:002007-03-17T10:46:17.114-05:00

The movie "Helvetica" had its world premiere at SXSW this week. The font celebrates its 50th birthday this year, and the feature-length film looks at its specifics and "typography, graphic design and global visual culture" in general.Is it coming to a city near you soon? Probably. Here are the screening dates.And you can win a limited-edition fine art poster from the film (very cool) in this

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-61558601163702643852007-03-15T17:09:00.000-05:002007-03-15T17:42:31.065-05:00

Languagehat points out that it recently changed from set to make. From the OED's revisions page: For many years the verb to set has been cited as the longest entry in the OED. But a recheck shows that it has at last been toppled from this position. The longest entry in the revised matter is represented by the verb to make (published in June 2000). However, it is quite possible that set will

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-15357603111850086222007-03-12T18:39:00.000-05:002007-03-12T19:07:05.410-05:00

Slate has a monthly contest about euphemisms with Barbara Wallraff (who, by the way, is living in Florence, Italy) as curator. She takes reader submissions and shares the best ones in a podcast. This month's contest was for new ways to say "incompetence in the workplace," such as chairwarmer, rock with arms and smooth-brained.The next contest is for euphemisms for "beautiful," "hot," "very

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-46397016258333086092007-03-09T16:16:00.000-06:002007-03-09T16:21:42.551-06:00

It may look awkward, but AP style calls for "daylight-saving time" instead of "Daylight Savings Time" or whatever other concoction reporters are tempted to use.Here's the entry:daylight-saving time Not savings. Note the hyphen.When linking the term with the name of a time zone, use only the word daylight: Eastern Daylight Time, Pacific Daylight Time, etc.Lowercase daylight-saving time in all

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-59395562207618019482007-03-02T11:12:00.000-06:002007-03-02T11:53:23.560-06:00

More states than not are dealing with some flare-up or another over the HPV vaccine. Here in Texas, where Gov. Rick Perry's executive order made the state the first to mandate the shots, the issue still makes daily news. And there's been plenty of potential for error:First, inoculate is spelled with one N, one C; it's not innoculate. Why doesn't it have two N's like innovate or innocuous? They

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-80936150178938055032007-02-23T15:11:00.000-06:002007-02-23T15:14:21.556-06:00

Lest you think I've been deserting this blog, I bring you this from the Onion:"[New Editor-In-Chief] Casey [Aclin] has been a real disappointment," Bartell said. "In a story last Monday, instead of saying 'Dean of Students Charles Baker,' it just said 'Dean Baker.' That's a blatant disregard of Free Press style rules that never would have flown on my watch."In other news, I'm finally getting my

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1170090925769690342007-01-28T23:03:00.000-06:002007-03-17T10:58:06.301-05:00

ACES has announced its five scholarship winners for the year: Matthew Dulin, University of HoustonKrysten Chambrot, University of Missouri-ColumbiaMegan Crockett, Central Michigan UniversityAmy Goldstein, City University of New YorkDavid Ok, University of Texas at ArlingtonThe top candidate every year is named the Aubespin scholar. That's Dulin this year. He will receive $2,500. The rest of the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1166587908030899432006-12-20T16:47:00.000-06:002007-03-17T10:59:03.054-05:00

I'm a fan of unions (always wanted the "Unions: The folks that brought you weekends" T-shirt). I'll admit that I sometimes cringe at the strict contract delineations ("no, copy editors can't write a story; contract won't allow it). But I've gotta give three cheers to the Newspaper Guild for putting its foot down in this case.Gannett papers are moving away from newsrooms and to "information

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1166586171574060602006-12-19T21:41:00.000-06:002007-03-17T11:00:01.674-05:00

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: We're missing a human remedy from the Stone Age that would erect a mighty backup defense against errors that no computer program or harried staffer on deadline could match: proofreaders, those wonderful thinkers, grammarians, spellers and widely read all-around trivia experts from yesteryear. Their roles were absorbed by technology and loaded onto copy editors,

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1163566711534410022006-11-16T06:22:00.000-06:002007-03-17T11:00:44.078-05:00

The Onion's always good for a language laugh. Witness:Skywriter trailed by skyeditorAnd for good measure:English Teacher On First Date In Ages Lets Dangling Modifier Slide FALLS CHURCH, VA—Recalling that it was her first date since September 2005, high-school English teacher Melanie Fitzgerald thought it prudent to overlook the grammatical errors of dinner date Aaron McPherson on Monday. "I

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1163566305771869212006-11-15T07:30:00.000-06:002007-03-17T11:01:35.427-05:00

I saw Joe Lieberman on "Meet the Press" Sunday, and the TV show listed him as "Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn."That's right — I/D, for independent Democrat. He won the election as an independent but will caucus with the Democrats.From the transcript: Sen. Lieberman: I was elected as an independent, I was elected, I believe, because I said to my constituents in Connecticut, “I’m, I’m as fed up with the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1163561565871835662006-11-14T21:25:00.001-06:002007-03-17T11:02:18.118-05:00

A new blog, Webster's Daily, celebrates found poetry from the first edition of Noah Webster'sAmerican Dictionary of the English Language (1828).Some examples: Blink, n.Blink of ice, is the dazzling whiteness about the horizon, occasioned by the reflection of light from fields of ice at sea.Holloa, exclam.A word used in calling.Among seamen, it is the answer to one that hails, equivalent to,I

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1162776928070368492006-11-08T13:05:00.000-06:002007-03-18T18:59:35.089-05:00

I read about two books last week that I'm adding to my Christmas list:The first is "The Yale Book of Quotations," released Oct. 30, which I read about at the Freakonomics blog. It is by Fred Shapiro, the editor of "The Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations." From its description at Amazon: In many cases, new research for this book has uncovered an earlier date or a different author than

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1162939992654194602006-11-07T16:49:00.000-06:002007-03-18T19:00:16.246-05:00

Jay Rosen's open-source reporting project names a director of verification: Craig Silverman, who runs Regret the Error. Working with the NewAssignment.net team and you, we will conceive and deploy a distributed fact checking system to check and verify the information contained in NewAssignment.Net stories. We’re going to use a combination of people, protocol and technology to do this. But the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1162912190539357152006-11-07T08:46:00.000-06:002007-03-18T19:01:15.843-05:00

"That headline is, like, one of the worst I've seen in a long time." — Chicago Tribune national reporter Jill Zuckman to Howard Kurtz, about this headline "Democrats, On the Offensive, Could Gain Both Houses" (via Romenesko)Of course, the headline isn't wrong, and it is supported by the story, in my opinion. Democrats are almost sure to take the House, and they have a shot at taking the Senate

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1162774594691537662006-11-07T07:37:00.000-06:002007-03-18T19:02:24.213-05:00

I quite enjoyed the New York Times Magazine feature on the OED. The O.E.D. is unlike any other dictionary, in any language. Not simply because it is the biggest and the best, though it is. Not just because it is the supreme authority. (It wears that role reluctantly: it does not presume, or deign, to say that any particular usage or spelling is correct or incorrect; it aims merely to capture the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1162848867976735692006-11-06T15:23:00.000-06:002006-11-06T15:34:28.070-06:00

The repeated use of "get out the vote" in campaign stories is giving me a headache. What ever happened to the simple "voter turnout"?Example: Both parties fired up get-out-the-vote operations.Is that any better than Both parties fired up voter turnout operations?An occasional get-out-the-vote reference is fine for some flair. But we've gone beyond flair here. We're entering the realm of

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1162694597289132142006-11-04T20:23:00.000-06:002006-11-05T18:36:27.540-06:00

Copy editors, our nightly struggle to condense 1,500 words of prose into a six-word headline is understood by few. But count these people in.Wired magazine noted that Hemingway once wrote a story in six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") and asked other writers to follow suit.There are a few I just love: Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.- Joss WhedonMachine. Unexpectedly, I’d

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1162183549067422322006-10-29T19:00:00.000-06:002006-10-29T22:45:49.266-06:00

This, from Slate's "In Today's Papers" feature, made me chuckle: The Post's Iraq front pager, while a solid story otherwise, unfortunately asks whether a "tipping point" has been reached. The writers were apparently unaware that a tipping point was reached long ago on use of the phrase tipping point.As of this posting, there were 2,320 references to "tipping point" in Google News. Even the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1161317937185369912006-10-19T22:47:00.000-05:002006-10-19T23:20:28.756-05:00

John Bolton and Josh Bolten are two names in politics that are easy to switch up.John Bolton is the bushy-stached ambassador to the U.N.; he was nominated in March 2005. (He was a recess appointment by Bush after the Democrats' filibuster of his nomination. Remember that?)Josh Bolten was named President Bush's second chief of staff in March 2006 after Andrew Card resigned.Mnemonic device: The N

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1161189772956979912006-10-18T09:48:00.000-05:002006-10-18T11:42:53.063-05:00

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Kansas v. Marsh revealed a deep divide over ... when to use the apostrophe-S in possessive nouns that end in S, and when to just use the apostrophe.The majority opinion — written by Clarence Thomas and joined by John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia — referred to Kansas' statute. In dissent, David Souter, joined by Stephen Breyer, Ruth

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1161047494653838512006-10-16T15:19:00.000-05:002006-10-16T20:11:34.736-05:00

Hey, everyone! I just finished a nice, long vacation in Wichita, where I enjoyed fall temperatures and some much-appreciated time with family and friends.Now it's back to Dallas. And blogging. And the Morning News' news copy desk -- but just for one more week.Next Monday, I'll be starting a new job at the paper, as presentation editor of the Editorial Department. Here's the description: This

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1160152461465734882006-10-06T11:31:00.000-05:002006-10-06T11:34:21.526-05:00

How to move from office manager to copy editor [Joe Grimm's News Jobs Cafe]

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1160075767029673232006-10-05T14:07:00.000-05:002006-10-06T19:01:29.916-05:00

A lot of people are getting to A Capital Idea looking for Halloween style, so here's a (partially) recycled post from 2003 with some style tips. (I noted in 2003, when I was still in Wichita, that I'd turned on the heater by Oct. 1. Here in Dallas now, it's in the 90s.)Halloween is always capitalized. (It's short for All Hallow Even, or All Hallows Eve, and is sometimes written Hallowe'en. But

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1159985784206191672006-10-04T12:44:00.000-05:002006-10-04T13:16:24.273-05:00

The L.A. Times, in its story about the Orange County Register's impending buyouts, says staff cutbacks are affecting the copy-editing process: Register reporters said they were not surprised, given the state of the industry. A newsroom hiring freeze has been in effect for several months. Reporters also had been asked recently to take on more responsibilities — including writing their own

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1159934300296867302006-10-03T22:01:00.000-05:002006-10-04T15:31:23.916-05:00

The Wichita Eagle, which gave me my first copy editing gig, has a blog by the newsroom management. The senior editor for nights, Nick Jungman, recently addressed a reader complaint about a headline over a brief: Mexican sentenced inaccident that killed 3 Background: A Mexican citizen was transporting 19 illegal immigrants in his truck, which overturned. Three people died, and he was eventually

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1159907411365081132006-10-03T14:50:00.000-05:002006-10-03T15:30:11.443-05:00

News orgs are reporting that Dennis Hastert, in a Q&A on the Mark Foley scandal on Monday, was asked if the GOP leadership should have done more to investigate after getting the e-mails."Woulda, coulda, shoulda," Mr. Hastert said, according to the Los Angeles Times.But the New York Times — and the official transcript — rendered it differently: "Would have, could have, should have."So which was

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1159905039287748662006-10-03T14:39:00.000-05:002006-10-03T14:50:39.350-05:00

A handful of American Copy Editors Society members gathered in Austin yesterday morning to discuss the formation of a Texas chapter. We've gotten the ball rolling — on the group and plans to hold a regional workshop next year.Would you be interested in attending? If so, what would you like to see?Would you be interested in helping? If so, let me know!In other ACES news, the deadline to apply for

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1159567657146429012006-09-29T16:33:00.000-05:002006-09-29T17:09:29.803-05:00

The difference between fonts and typefaces.A tangentially related story: I had to laugh the other night when I went to a bar after work with some colleagues (karaoke — and, no, I didn't sing). A man was wearing a T-shirt that said simply "HELVETICA." Only, it obviously wasn't in Helvetica. I complimented the shirt, and he told me it got a lot of praise, "only most people don't know it's not

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1159562099334648932006-09-29T14:56:00.000-05:002006-09-29T15:34:59.460-05:00

Wired's copy chief has a column this week about communication, and how the Internet makes it so easy to be a jerk.His anecdotal lede made me laugh:A few years back, during the course of revising our in-house style guide, I decreed, as Wired News' copy chief, that the word e-mail should be spelled with a hyphen. Had I been the copy chief of a general-circulation newspaper or magazine, the ruling

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1159304270265774432006-09-26T15:38:00.000-05:002006-09-26T15:57:50.476-05:00

The Chicago Manual of Style is going online. The entire 15th edition will be up; this marks the styleguide's 100th anniversary.Subscriptions will be available by the end of the month; they're $30 a year (although if you act now you can get the first year for the low, low price of $25). (An even better deal? Looks like they'll have a free 30-day trial.)Buying the print version is $55. For $60, you

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1159290625869297342006-09-26T11:45:00.000-05:002006-09-26T12:10:25.973-05:00

Being notorious takes more than being well-known. You have to be well-known in an unfavorable light.The Online Etymology Dictionary says the word dates to 1548 and has had a negative connotation since the 17th century "from frequent association with derogatory nouns."WRONG: "He always watched out for his family and others. He was notorious for helping."RIGHT: "He was notorious for killing entire

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1158171074337728142006-09-13T11:40:00.000-05:002006-09-13T13:11:14.553-05:00

I've been keeping a running list of some of the errors I've seen this week.In the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, there is an S on Clubs. But double-check your local organizations to see which include the S. For example, Dallas has an umbrella organization — the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas — that uses the S, but individual clubs don't — the East Dallas Boys & Girls Club.Fighting on a

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1157733530170034812006-09-08T10:49:00.000-05:002006-09-08T11:38:50.216-05:00

I haven't posted about Erin McKean in months, so here (via Crabwalk.com) is a 55-minute video of her presenting "The 10 Things I Wish People Knew About Dictionaries." It's the same presentation she gave at ACES — with a Google bonus, including "How Lexicographers Use Google." ("We use Google as a junkie uses heroin.")A couple of quotes:On including unpopular words, such as irregardless: "Ignoring

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1157651655965146922006-09-07T12:26:00.000-05:002006-09-07T12:54:16.133-05:00

Doug Fisher has been en fuego lately at Common Sense Journalism.First, read his take on the fears of copy editing being outsourced. Copy editors need to start promoting their "brand" a lot more heavily and what they can bring to any publication. Too often, however, they revel in their anonymity. That will not serve them well. ... Copy editors are likely to find their jobs changing radically in

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1157649505161192192006-09-07T12:12:00.000-05:002006-09-07T12:25:57.703-05:00

Thinking — as so many of my colleagues are — of making a switch out of newspapers? Consider this CareerJournal.com interview of a journalist-turned-flack. CJ: What was the last straw that made you change careers?Mr. Gerard: I had been contemplating the idea for four years. Every Thursday night, I'd work until midnight to meet deadline and one Thursday at around 8:30 p.m., I got a call from a

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1157649066609258662006-09-07T11:51:00.000-05:002006-09-07T12:11:06.630-05:00

Wired reporter files a story to be edited by wiki -- and discovers ho-hum results. Certainly the final story is more accurate and more representative of how wikis are used. Is it a better story than the one that would have emerged after a Wired News editor worked with it? I think not. The edits over the week lack some of the narrative flow that a Wired News piece usually contains. The

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1157478833777532672006-09-05T12:24:00.000-05:002006-09-05T12:53:53.946-05:00

Be sure to check out John McIntyre's latest post at You Don't Say.He explains why it's OK to call corrections officers guards. And people who do social work social workers. And teachers teachers — even if they don't have a teaching certificate. Greg Garland, an industrious and careful reporter who has written about upheaval in the state prison system, has received a note from a correctional

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1157391215699597312006-09-04T12:07:00.000-05:002006-09-05T17:26:07.136-05:00

Here's another round of inappropriate headlines after the death of a celebrity, this time Steve Irwin.Crikey, Steve Irwin killed by a stingray [Edmonton Sun]Crikey, can the Crocodile Hunter really be gone? [The Age]Crikey! Crocodile Hunter news devours bandwidth [Computerworld]

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1157000298545381562006-08-31T00:15:00.000-05:002006-08-30T23:58:18.696-05:00

Hint: When you're writing copy for movie ads, you shouldn't misspell a star's name. (Via Defamer)

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1156878394973171412006-08-29T12:27:00.000-05:002006-08-29T14:06:35.143-05:00

A comparison of headlines before and after John Mark Karr was exonerated:Boston HeraldB: A tragedy nears an end (editorial)A: Karr wreck: Red-faced DA drops charges vs. sickoRocky Mountain NewsB: Big breakthrough in JonBenet caseA: Case crashesNew York PostB: Snake on a plane: JonBenet 'killer' lands in U.S. jailA: Off the hook: DNA clears 'killer' KarrNew York Daily NewsB: SOLVED!A: JonBenet

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1156288799237977572006-08-22T15:05:00.000-05:002006-08-22T18:20:14.453-05:00

The Akron Beacon Journal announced layoffs of 40 of its 161 newsroom employees today.Twenty percent of those being laid off are copy editors. Twenty-nine of those positions are full-time. Employees were given 60 days' notice and will receive severance pay amounting to one week's pay for every six months of service.A representative of the Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of America, the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1156185620721724892006-08-21T13:38:00.000-05:002006-08-21T13:40:20.740-05:00

A Quebec man wants a consolation prize from his local newspaper after experiencing the thrill of winning the lottery, only to discover the paper had printed the wrong numbers. (Via Regrets the Error)

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1155927339327446032006-08-18T13:45:00.000-05:002006-08-18T13:55:39.466-05:00

"SOLVED.""A tragedy nears an end.""Family's years of fear, anger come to an end.""The decade-long search for JonBenet Ramsey's killer came to a startling end in Thailand on Wednesday."As quickly as news outlets were willing to declare the JonBenet Ramsey case closed Wednesday, they had to admit to a growing skepticism Thursday. (Thai police said John Mark Karr admitted drugging her, but the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1155247137877684222006-08-10T12:24:00.000-05:002006-08-10T18:57:35.633-05:00

From Language Log: Why you can have poets laureate but not Nobels laureate: In poet laureate (the title of whichever poet is currently designated as a kind of honorary official poet of the country), the head noun seems to be poet. So the plural is poets laureate, and that's what most people write. But in Nobel laureate, for some reason, things have shifted. Laureate is the head. It has become

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1155229280032947872006-08-10T11:36:00.000-05:002006-08-10T12:19:39.053-05:00

From an Economist article on differences between the sexes: Although it is commonly held that there are reliable differences between the verbal abilities of males and females, Dr Hines suggests this is not exactly correct. She says that the results of hundreds of tests of vocabulary and reading comprehension show there is almost no gap between the sexes. Though teenage girls are better at

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1155227355777239842006-08-10T11:20:00.000-05:002006-08-10T11:29:16.303-05:00

I've allowed my love of gravy to distract me from my prescriptivist linguistic crusade (via Languagehat).

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1155145875851736922006-08-09T12:38:00.000-05:002006-08-09T12:51:15.993-05:00

Many a prescriptivist will tell you that you shouldn't say "one of the only," that the correct usage is "one of the few."Bill Walsh says not so fast: It would be one thing if only always referred to one and only one thing, but that's not the case. Webster's New World defines only as "alone of its or their kind," and nobody objects to "only two people . . ." and the like. If "only two people" have

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1155142498049979982006-08-09T11:36:00.000-05:002006-08-09T11:54:58.176-05:00

After misspelling the a few times in that last post, I was reminded of the teh phenomenon in leet speak. (Look at me! I'm using Wikipedia as a source!)Check out the Wikipedia entry on teh. Here's a teaser: In English, the can be used as an intensifier for the superlative form of adjectives; compare "that is best" and "that is the best". "Teh" has a similar use as an intensifier for unmodified

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1155141388473334482006-08-09T11:16:00.000-05:002006-08-09T11:36:28.620-05:00

Forgive the absence. I've been out of town. Again. But I have a lot of posts to catch up on. Here's a starter: A misplaced comma in a Canadian contract could end up costing Rogers Communication more than $2 million. Rogers was paying Alliant to string its cable lines in the Maritimes for $9.60 a pole. (The going rate is as high as $28.)The deal was to "continue in force for a period of five years

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1154620053883537312006-08-03T10:06:00.000-05:002006-08-03T10:47:34.470-05:00

Slate's Seth Stevenson says sucks has lost its tawdry implications. When someone says Bill Gates is a geek, do you picture him as a circus performer biting the head off a live chicken? Of course not. The word's root meaning has been replaced with a new connotation. Similarly, when I call Paris Hilton a moron, I don't mean she's mentally retarded, and when I call bungee jumping lame I don't mean

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1154499785536816782006-08-02T01:35:00.000-05:002006-08-08T20:50:05.516-05:00

I'm usually working when "The Colbert Report" comes on (and I don't have a TiVo), so I never see it when it airs. But thank God for YouTube.This is Colbert's take on Wikipedia and a new concept he calls wikiality. In case you don't have the inclination to watch the video, here's a partial transcript: Now, folks, I'?m no fan of reality, and I'?m no fan of encyclopedias. I'?ve said it before. Who

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1154371870949897732006-07-31T13:07:00.000-05:002006-07-31T13:51:11.073-05:00

A Canadian interning as a reporter at the China Daily laments the editing process: Like a dove flying a gauntlet, my article flew out of my hands at 6 p.m. and landed in the next day's paper a flightless, ugly thing. It sailed the jet streams of copy editors, senior editors, and night editors, both foreign and Chinese, losing a feather here, a quote there, a harsh edge, a word, a thought, an idea

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1154073490817862582006-07-28T02:34:00.000-05:002006-07-28T02:58:10.946-05:00

Pam Robinson has more Q&A's up at Words at Work, including ones from Bill Walsh, Doug Fisher, Heads Up: the Blog's Fred Vultee and me.A teaser, from Bill's: I find myself playing the descriptivist, the anti-stickler, at least as often as I'm the stickler you might expect. A recent e-mail was typical: One of my regulars was aghast at this "error" he had found in an otherwise reputable place -- "

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1154018002268713492006-07-27T11:16:00.000-05:002006-07-27T11:33:22.373-05:00

The latest Newspaper Industry Compensation Survey shows disappointing numbers for copy editors:Pay for beginning copy editors, on average, rose 1.5 percent last year. Pay for experienced copy editors 1.4 percent.The published material doesn't include an average base salary for copy editors, but here are some other figures E&P got:Beginning reporters: $29,048Sports editors: $52,632Inside sales rep

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1153981340263010552006-07-27T01:15:00.000-05:002006-07-27T11:16:36.933-05:00

Spellcheck company corrects itselfNews release touting error-checking software contained misspellings TORONTO -- A company that sells software to correct irritating Internet spelling mistakes has reissued its latest news release to correct a minor snafu.TextTrust, which says it focuses on "eliminating the negative text impressions on Web sites," re-released a Tuesday news release to correct a

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1153892740737162472006-07-26T00:53:00.000-05:002006-07-26T00:45:45.236-05:00

Ten years after Richard Jewell was falsely accused of bombing the 1996 Summer Olympics, he's still fighting the paper that first identified him as a suspect, the Atlanta Journal Constitution.He's accusing the paper of libel and, because he became a public figure in the ordeal, has to prove actual malice. His lawyer Lin Wood is trying to prove that -- by using depositions from AJC copy editors.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1153867243757674492006-07-25T12:35:00.000-05:002006-07-25T17:40:43.786-05:00

Daniel Schorr on blogging: "What we have here is a medium in which there is no publisher, no editor, no anything. It's just you and a little machine and you can make history. I find that scary. Nobody should get into print or on the air without some kind of editor. I have an institutional belief that nobody can be above having a good editor."That's from a USA Today profile on the NPR analyst, who

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1153631235384901332006-07-23T00:05:00.000-05:002006-07-23T00:07:15.433-05:00

The AP Stylebook online has a section on Iraq city names, for consistency's sake. It deletes all prefixes (ad, al, an, etc.). BaghdadBaladBaqoubaBasraBeijiFallujahHabaniyahHadithaHamdaniaHillahIrbilIskandariyahKarbalaKirkukMahmudiyahMosulNajafNasariyahObeidiRamadiSamarraTal AfarTajiTikrit

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1153629526485557362006-07-22T21:13:00.000-05:002006-07-22T23:38:46.610-05:00

I had no idea:ABBA is an acronym. It stands for the first names of the four group members: Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn, and Anni-Frid. So keep those letters capped. (And, of course, there's no need to replicate the backwards B. They didn't consistently use it in their logo, anyway.)

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1153256169316560472006-07-19T12:32:00.000-05:002006-07-19T12:58:23.353-05:00

Pam Robinson, at Words at Work, is running interviews of bloggers who cover language and journalism.The list so far:John Rains of Writing CoachWilliam Z. Shetter of Language MiniaturesBob Stepno of Bob Stepno's Other Journalism WeblogJoe Marren of Joe Marren: BlogSteve of Language HatJohn McIntyre of You Don't SayJohn Robinson at The Editor's Log

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1152592627805664402006-07-10T22:57:00.000-05:002006-07-10T23:37:07.996-05:00

Sorry for the light posting, everyone. I've been hobnobbing with relative at my grandparents' farm in Iowa, and now I'm headed to Colorado on a road trip with some friends. Expect posting to resume next Monday.Until then, here are some things I might be blogging about if I weren't dreaming about mountains instead. Happy reading.B#$A*()D W*$O^*R#$D@!S [Words at Work]Heads above the rest [You

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1152292865165092362006-07-07T11:49:00.000-05:002006-07-07T13:02:35.116-05:00

The shakeup at the Santa Barbara paper has been interesting to read about, if only in the train wreck sense.A quick recap: Reclusive billionaire owns paper. She quashes news of the opinion editor's DUI sentence and then makes him publisher. Incoming publisher says he'll oversee some news operations, and journalists worry about the separation of news and editorial. And actor Rob Lowe is somehow

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151639871968698932006-06-30T10:31:00.000-05:002006-06-30T09:45:30.626-05:00

It's probably hokey that I found this "Vows" story in the New York Times so cute. But I'm a sucker for word lover romance. Ask Jessica Switzer and Gregory Pliska to find a synonym for love, and chances are they could come up with a dictionary's worth.For as long as either can remember they have had a passion for words. And through words they discovered a passion for each other.Though they had

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151633038759866562006-06-30T00:01:00.000-05:002006-06-30T00:13:52.443-05:00

Seen in a book review (in a British publication): Although a must red, Iskandar's books suffers from the recent general decline in British copy-editing and fact-checking standards.However, given that this is the English version of an article on an Arabic site, I'm willing to cut some slack.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151640279000119752006-06-29T23:20:00.000-05:002006-06-29T23:04:39.030-05:00

Whenever you use "Up, up and away" with a balloon story, an angel is accidentally sucked into a hay baler and fed to cattle. [Headsup: the Blog]

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151632631266699872006-06-29T20:46:00.000-05:002006-06-29T20:57:11.296-05:00

When the Sex & Love editor at iVillage needs to describe the comma of direct address, she uses tactics that might not be appropriate for all grammar nerds. (Her blog entry also includes references to Bill Walsh, sex toys and the World Cup. How's that for diverse?)And, try as I might, I can't get a certain Dexy's Midnight Runners song out of my head now.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151625266161516672006-06-29T18:48:00.000-05:002006-06-29T18:54:26.180-05:00

From an AFP story:A White House official, who requested anonymity, said the jukebox was a fully restored 1954 Seeburg R100 jukebox, originally manufactured in Chicago, with all of the original parts, and configured to play 100 songs. Wonkette's response: WTF AFP? We know you’re kind of a pretend wire service, but that’s the stupidest granting of anonymity we’ve seen… well, today.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151476634281132172006-06-28T11:38:00.000-05:002006-06-28T12:43:27.253-05:00

Everyone gets edited in a good newspaper -- even people who aren't so used to it, like readers who write letters to the editor.The Editor's Desk (have I mentioned that I just love this blog by Andy Bechtel, a journalism prof at UNC?) has a post about a North Carolina senator who was mad that his letter to the News & Observer was edited down -- so mad that he took out a full-page ad to air his

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151457916131446992006-06-28T00:28:00.000-05:002006-06-28T00:27:23.670-05:00

I know I've been posting the updates to the OED from time to time, but I've never said how they're going about adding new words.ABC News has a story quoting Jesse Sheidlower, editor of the North American division. He said editors are going through the entire dictionary, entry by entry, updating some words and adding others -- about 250 every quarter.OED publicist Don Myers says most additions

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151454290434207262006-06-27T18:57:00.000-05:002006-06-27T19:24:50.563-05:00

Scott Baradell, who runs a PR firm in Dallas and the accompanying Media Orchard blog, is annoyed by the overuse of utilize when a simple use will do. Clearly, many corporate folks think big words sound more impressive than small words. It just sounds better to "utilize" state-of-the-art technology than to "use" it, doesn't it? Baradell -- a former alt-weekly reporter who also has "Belo VP for

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151393079593602252006-06-27T12:51:00.000-05:002006-06-27T12:53:01.100-05:00

You may have read the headlines from the APSE diversity study (PDF) last week: Sports staffs are dominated by white men.But what about copy editors and designers? They say 89.7 percent are white, 87 percent male.A further breakdown:White Men89978.58%African-American Men393.41%Latino Men393.41%Asian Men110.96%Other Men40.35%White Women12711.10%African-American Women131.14%Latina Women60.52%Asian

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151394663771112152006-06-27T02:40:00.000-05:002006-06-27T02:51:03.783-05:00

Office Pirates compiles some of the box office headlines from the weekend.We get it, we get it; Sandler clicks with moviegoers.But just in case we didn't get it, a couple of news orgs put the clicks in quotes for us. Thanks for nothing, FoxNews.com and CNN.com.

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151354496709799262006-06-26T23:34:00.000-05:002006-06-27T01:19:23.763-05:00

This isn't particularly important or telling, but I do find it interesting:A version of Dave Barry's latest column, on Miami fans' love of the Heat, went online with this passage (italics mine): "But I believe that many of us, if we are honest with ourselves, know in our heart of hearts that this is not the sacred undying lifelong-commitment love of holy matrimony. This is more the hasty

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151346384531776312006-06-26T12:46:00.000-05:002006-06-26T13:26:28.960-05:00

The meat of William Safire's column is devoted to the history of lollygag. It's a delightful word; still you might get more enjoyment out of his complaints about acronyms and initialisms. (And you Safire haters, take note: He closes the column with a correction -- and word that he's taking a vacation.)It's been six weeks since Tony Snow called a problem a "tar baby," and some people are still

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151028225867420812006-06-22T20:57:00.000-05:002006-06-22T21:03:45.886-05:00

That last copy editor cartoon was so popular that I'll offer another, though I don't enjoy this one as much.In an early job interview, I can remember the editor of a paper asking me why I wanted to be a copy editor, and I went on and on about my love of language and obsession with grammar. I threw in that clever "I even edit menus at restaurants." (Cringe.) I suppose it's better than "Why, we're

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1151000215658586462006-06-22T12:59:00.000-05:002006-06-22T13:16:55.776-05:00

I really enjoyed the New York Observer's profile of NYT reporter Sewell Chan, the overachiever who racked up 422 bylines in a year.He must do nothing but work. Once, he even recommended bringing a cot into the newsroom when he worked at the Washington Post. Why take the time to drive home?And you know a reporter like that is going to sweat the small stuff. To wit: Ms. Layton [a former co-worker

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1150999111016866852006-06-22T12:48:00.000-05:002006-06-22T12:58:31.083-05:00

A former managing editor was willing to pay a headhunter $1,720 to spruce up her resume and send it out ... until they accidentally inserted gibberish into it, making her look like an ass to 200 potential employers. Four days later, she received an e-mail from Bud Weiser Chevrolet-Cadillac in Beloit stating, "Barbara, received your letter, but I am not sure what a 70E.R1B,EWI.5381 does. Maybe

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1150851498898694012006-06-20T16:12:00.000-05:002006-06-29T00:10:39.003-05:00

* William Safire devotes his column to recent books on language. Covered are:"Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog" by Kitty Burns Florey"Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds" by Michael Quinion"Green-Eyed Monsters & Good Samaritans" by Leonard Mann"Talking Right" by Geoffrey Nunberg"Language and Human Nature" by Mark Halpern"From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow" by Mark Monmonier* Jan Freeman explains what

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1150752365916265552006-06-19T16:02:00.000-05:002006-06-19T16:26:05.933-05:00

Wikipedia has loosened its "anyone can edit" policy on a handful of its 1.2 million English-language articles most vulnerable to vandalism.It has a small list of entries that are protected from all editing; as of Friday, there were 82 of them, including entries on Cuba, the 2004 election controversy in Ohio, and elitism.Then there are articles that are semi-protected, open only to editors who

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1150586895531043912006-06-17T16:12:00.000-05:002006-06-17T20:51:17.823-05:00

With Madonna on tour, "The Da Vinci Code" in theaters, and skinny jeans coming back into style, sacrilege has been on my mind.The oft-misspelled adjective is sacrilegious, not sacreligious.It's easy to see why a term referring to "gross irreverence toward something held sacred" is often thought to contain the word religious.But popular belief assigns the words different origins: sacrilege from

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1150440488031543272006-06-16T01:44:00.000-05:002006-06-16T01:48:08.050-05:00

A comic for copy editors (Thanks, Michael!)

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1150392955176900752006-06-15T11:45:00.000-05:002006-06-15T21:39:40.070-05:00

The Associated Press has an "Ask the Editor" section of its online stylebook. (I've been reading right over the link forever; luckily, Doug Fisher pointed it out.)People have asked about taps, the bugle call, about 28,000 times. Here are some style notes from Norm Goldstein that aren't already in your stylebook:How does the AP abbreviate microphone? Do you go to an open mic night or an open mike

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1150152405653907982006-06-12T17:27:00.000-05:002006-06-12T17:46:45.736-05:00

Jason Kottke rounds up just sampling of the puns used in headlines about the new Pixar movie, "Cars." With 'Cars,' Pixar Revs Up to Outpace Walt Disney Himself (NY Times)NASCAR, Hollywood share the fast lane (USA Today)'Cars' Voices Toot Their Horns (Zap2it.com)A toon-up for Petty (Orlando Sentinel)With 'Cars', Paul Newman stays in the race (Malaysia Star)Newman's need for speed (Toronto Sun)Cars

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1150134466449771542006-06-12T11:24:00.000-05:002006-06-12T12:50:32.770-05:00

William Safire talks about diplolingo, namely the sensitivity surrounding Israelis' pullout from the Gaza Strip. Prime minister Ehud Olmert struggled with what to call the move that didn't make it sound like a retreat or abandonment. He came up with hitkansut, Hebrew for coming together. But what should it be called in English? (He also mentions a related article from the Washington Times, "

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1149961554735144862006-06-10T12:42:00.000-05:002006-06-10T12:46:26.156-05:00

An excerpt from the New York Times' review of Howell Raines' memoir, "The One That Got Away," right after the scandals of Jayson Blair and Judith Miller are mentioned (emphasis mine): None of these flavors of the Raines epoch make an appearance in "The One That Got Away," but the most frustrating omission in Raines's apologia is the lack of anything specific and useful about how the craft of

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1149737016209046882006-06-07T20:50:00.000-05:002006-06-08T21:11:23.320-05:00

Author sues over poorly copy-edited book [Charleston Post and Courier] Leon Koziol, a former city councilman and candidate for state senate in Utica, N.Y., has accused Booksurge of outsourcing the editing of his book to India and delivering thousands of volumes with upside-down text and "words not found in the dictionary."Shakespeare lines that are now cliches [The Shakespeare Book of Lists] The

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1149666611561970962006-06-07T12:36:00.000-05:002006-06-07T19:42:20.253-05:00

Somehow, Old Navy managed to pretend commas don't exist and misspell potatoes on this baby T-shirt. (But they get the spelling right in the description on its Web site. Go figure.) An argument can be made for or instead of and, but, really, the other problems are enough.(Link via Language Log)(Also, sorry if you've tried to leave comments today and haven't been able to; Blogger's been down most

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5158072.post-1149647722934482372006-06-06T20:34:00.000-05:002006-06-06T21:35:23.143-05:00

This just in:Pepsi did not omit the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance on a newly designed can.A 13-year-old Philadelphia girl named Ashley Flores is not missing.Cell phone numbers are not about to be released to telemarketers, and you do not need to register your cell phone on the do-not-call list.I've always had this little fear that I'm going to let an urban legend or flagrant

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249496192742926693noreply@blogger.com2