copy editing | copy editing
Apr.08.2009
Correct hyphenation per the style guide I'm working from today:
coauthor co-writer cofounder
(I'm changing that last one to co-founder. To hell with the style guide.)
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Mar.30.2009
Saw this in Paul Krugman's NY Times column today:
Discussing the causes of that crisis, Mr. Summers pointed to things that the crisis countries lacked - and that, by implication, the United States had. These things included "well-capitalized and supervised banks" and reliable,...
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Mar.10.2009
"The park's four-acre Conifer Forest will turn into a primeval habitat, crawling with life-like robotic dinosaurs that roamed the earth 65 to 150 million years ago."
I changed to:
"... life-like robotic dinosaurs like the ones that roamed the earth 65 to 150 million years ago....
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Feb.26.2009
Came across this the other day:
Let's look at four of the coolest, campiest and downright otherworldly attractions that make for a great side trip.
I scratched my head: "coolest, campiest and downright otherworldly"? It took me a while to decide that, indeed, this is a parallel problem...
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Feb.04.2009
Last month I wrote a blog entry about words that are out to get me. After some fancy footwork to try to deflect observations like, "Yeah, June, that's real sane," I identified the leader of the conspiracy -- the word "lead." I wrote:
Like some kind of evil twin, "lead...
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Jan.07.2009
I’m not paranoid. I just happen to know that a well-organized cabal of sinister words is out to get me. They’re out to publicly humiliate me by proving that my copy editing skills are somewhere between those of George W. Bush and those of Dan Quayle.
For example, yesterday, after twice going...
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Jan.06.2009
I'm vexed by agreement issues lately.
For example, an article I recently copy edited said something like, "The suites feature Jacuzzi tubs and a balcony." Here's another example, "Homeowners throughout the country should buy an insurance policy tailored to their unique needs."...
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Nov.17.2008
I noticed recently some rather curious comma choices in the New Yorker. Specifically, its editors seem to prefer to set off with commas prepositional phrases of "in" + a year. They don't do it all the time, but they seem to do it a lot lately. Some examples:
When he died, in 1984, he was...
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Oct.28.2008
I edited a rather problematic article the other day about a new music venue. It contained some good examples of the ways that wily words can mutiny. Here (disguised, as always) is one example:
“The Blues Room holds high stakes for its performers by having the reach of a global audience through...
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Sep.10.2008
I do a lot of copy editing for publications that follow Los Angeles Times style, which is just a slight variation on AP style. More recently, I’ve begun copy editing publications that follow the Chicago Manual of Style.
A classic difference between them: AP says not to use the serial comma, or...
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