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Bad Introductory Phrase du Jour
A real sentence (slightly disguised) that I edited yesterday:"With the idea that instead of shopping all around New York, the attendees could have the city's best shops brought to them, retail outlets...
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Words That Should Get a Divorce (One in an occasional series on words whose...
"seasoned" and "professional""Seasoned professional" is one of those terms I've long relied on. I use it in my own writing and I'm sure I've inserted it into articles I've edited.But something happened...
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Looks Like 'Seasoned' and 'Professional' May Be on the Outs Anyway
Just saw a tweet from Ben Zimmer about a Google tool that lets you search book databases for keyphrases and keywords. So, with "seasoned professional" fresh in my mind, I did a search for it.A chart of...
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Checklist for Determining Whether Your Kid’s Picture Should Be on Your...
True or False:1. I always send out little Bobby’s picture because everyone oohed and aahed over how cute he was on our Christmas cards 15 years ago.2. Childless people like looking at other people’s...
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Wonderings and Googlings (Wherein I wonder about words, then I Google them)
Reading about creme fraiche today, I noticed that one website said it has a "nutty, slightly sour taste." Is it just me, or does it seem that every ingestible under the sun is, at times, said to have a...
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The Subtleties of Subject-verb Agreement
An additional $18 billion in six-month bills was auctionedor An additional $18 billion in six-month bills were auctionedGreat discussion of this on an old Copyediting.com post.
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More Parsing Larsson: A Revisitation
I've been hearing from a lot of people interested in analyzing Larsson's prose, so I thought I'd share links to some blog posts I did a while back examining his writing.This one inventories verbs on...
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Some Bad Sentences Just Coming Lookin' for You
I wasn't even reading this AP story about a derailed chair lift at a Maine ski resort. I was just skimming it when this sentence jumped out at me:"Jay Marshall, hunkered down in a cold wind while on a...
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No Mumbo, Plenty of Jumbo: Language in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
I finally got around to doing something I’ve been meaning to do for over a year: look up the exact text of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which (among other things) repealed banking safeguards put in...
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Enough about me. Let's talk about grammar.
Today marks the launch of my new grammar tips site, Grammar Underground, athttp://www.grammarunderground.com/It will have podcasts and blog posts on the topics people ask me about most, approaching the...
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Copy Edit du Jour
The road leads you through flourishing rainforests, flowing waterfalls,plunging pools and dramatic seascapes.Changed to:The road leads you through flourishing rainforests AND PAST flowingwaterfalls,...
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Wonderings and Googlings (Wherein I wonder about words, then I Google them)
I noticed recently that both major style guides' preferred dictionaries advocate the spelling "doughnut."Merriam-Webster, which is followed by most book publishers says that "donut" is a variant...
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It's National Grammar Day!
Celebrate by not looking surprised if someone says, "Happy National Grammar Day."Other ways to celebrate:* Impress a friend by using "whom" in a sentence.* Annoy a stickler by not using "whom" in a...
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Gaddafi: It only took me 20 years to look it up
I took a year of Arabic in college. I'm not sure why. I didn't have much educational guidance up to that point, or education, for that matter. I had dropped out of school without completing the ninth...
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Women: What Your Favorite Classic Rock Band Says About You
My friend, author Treacy Colbert, was inspired recently by a viral e-mail about classic rock bands to put a female spin on the subject. So we both chipped in ideas and came up with ....WOMEN: What Your...
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Subject-Object Agreement? Don't Hold Your Breaths.
Here's a headline from today's New York Times: At Particle Lab, a Tantalizing Glimpse Has Physicists Holding Their Breaths Breaths? Really? I've written before about subject-object agreement, like...
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Wonderings and Googlings (Wherein I wonder about words, then I Google them)
"I'm special" = 2,800,000 hits
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How to Speak Elevator
Welcome, visitors to the United States! While you’re here, you’ll probably have lots of opportunities to ride American elevators. Don’t worry! Navigating them is easy with this handy guide: HOW TO...
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Wonderings and Googlings: Wherein I wonder about words, then I Google them
I'm no spring chicken = 647,000 hitsI'm a spring chicken = 18,000 hits
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10 Signs the Online Article You're Reading Is Completely Devoid of Substance
As you know, substantiveness is all about substance. And that’s exactly what we’re seeking every time we click an enticing headline from AOL News or Yahoo! Health or CNN Money – meatiness, meat,...
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Copy Edit du Jour
"Our office handles a full range of podiatric needs including sports medicine and deformities of the foot such as Bunions, Hammertoes and Neuromas." Changed to: "... bunions, hammertoes and...
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Copy Edit du Jour
What's more -- aside from a specialized curriculum -- private schools are notoriously known for their smaller classrooms.Changed to:Private schools are known for their smaller class sizes.(Other bad...
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How to Tell If You're a 'Real Writer'
These days, everyone’s a writer. Advances in technology have allowed anyone with a keyboard and a traumatic childhood to claim the title of “published writer.” Of course, this has frustrated “real...
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Copy Edit du Jour
"A display of the collection will be on site in the main pavilion"Changed to ..."The collection will be on display in the main pavilion."
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Survey: How Satisfied Are You with Your Survey Experience?
If you’re like a lot of business owners -- specifically, all of them -- you have at one point or another hired a survey company to plumb the fascinating depths of your customers’ or website visitors’...
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