July 2, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Once we've established, as we have repeatedly, that "deport" is the wrong word, I'd support "rendition," which fully carries the meaning of what's going on and sounds, at least to me, properly odiously fascistic.
YM, as always, MV.
#copyediting
YM, as always, MV.
#copyediting
April 23, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Once we've established, as we have repeatedly, that "deport" is the wrong word, I'd support "rendition," which fully carries the meaning of what's going on and sounds, at least to me, properly odiously fascistic.
YM, as always, MV.
#copyediting
YM, as always, MV.
#copyediting
July 21, 2024 at 9:09 PM
BTW the plural of CEO is not CEO's but CEOs.
I think that might be useful knowledge for some of you.
#copyediting
I think that might be useful knowledge for some of you.
#copyediting
December 14, 2024 at 6:38 PM
BTW the plural of CEO is not CEO's but CEOs.
I think that might be useful knowledge for some of you.
#copyediting
I think that might be useful knowledge for some of you.
#copyediting
My 2025 #copyediting mission will be to inspire everyone to learn to put the terminal punctuation on the correct side of the quotation marks in constructions like:
Do you really enjoy the song "Yesterday"?
Yes, I love the song "Yesterday"!
Do you really enjoy the song "Yesterday"?
Yes, I love the song "Yesterday"!
November 28, 2024 at 8:22 PM
My 2025 #copyediting mission will be to inspire everyone to learn to put the terminal punctuation on the correct side of the quotation marks in constructions like:
Do you really enjoy the song "Yesterday"?
Yes, I love the song "Yesterday"!
Do you really enjoy the song "Yesterday"?
Yes, I love the song "Yesterday"!
December 7, 2024 at 3:39 AM
If you all could preserve “criterion” as the singular and “criteria” as the plural, I’d take it as a great personal kindness.
Thank you for your attention to th
*is crushed to death by a plummeting Acme anvil*
#copyediting
Thank you for your attention to th
*is crushed to death by a plummeting Acme anvil*
#copyediting
June 26, 2025 at 8:15 PM
If you all could preserve “criterion” as the singular and “criteria” as the plural, I’d take it as a great personal kindness.
Thank you for your attention to th
*is crushed to death by a plummeting Acme anvil*
#copyediting
Thank you for your attention to th
*is crushed to death by a plummeting Acme anvil*
#copyediting
#copyediting
palate is the taste/mouth thing
palette is the paint/color thing
pallet is the bed/platform thing
palate is the taste/mouth thing
palette is the paint/color thing
pallet is the bed/platform thing
April 17, 2025 at 7:01 PM
#copyediting
palate is the taste/mouth thing
palette is the paint/color thing
pallet is the bed/platform thing
palate is the taste/mouth thing
palette is the paint/color thing
pallet is the bed/platform thing
January 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Of course my experience is limited, but I've never encountered a writer who wasn't appreciative of being conventionally copyedited on the little mechanical details so long as you were attentive to and supportive of their voice and style when they were coloring outside the lines.
🤷🏻♂️
#copyediting
🤷🏻♂️
#copyediting
November 29, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Of course my experience is limited, but I've never encountered a writer who wasn't appreciative of being conventionally copyedited on the little mechanical details so long as you were attentive to and supportive of their voice and style when they were coloring outside the lines.
🤷🏻♂️
#copyediting
🤷🏻♂️
#copyediting
#copyediting
1. It's Denali.
2. It's the Gulf of Mexico.
3. If you use the r-word, I will block you.
4. If you use the t-suffix, ditto.
1. It's Denali.
2. It's the Gulf of Mexico.
3. If you use the r-word, I will block you.
4. If you use the t-suffix, ditto.
January 28, 2025 at 3:16 AM
#copyediting
1. It's Denali.
2. It's the Gulf of Mexico.
3. If you use the r-word, I will block you.
4. If you use the t-suffix, ditto.
1. It's Denali.
2. It's the Gulf of Mexico.
3. If you use the r-word, I will block you.
4. If you use the t-suffix, ditto.
#copyediting
Not for the first time, not for the last time:
The best way to use the phrase "begs the question" is not to.
Not for the first time, not for the last time:
The best way to use the phrase "begs the question" is not to.
December 27, 2024 at 7:48 PM
#copyediting
Not for the first time, not for the last time:
The best way to use the phrase "begs the question" is not to.
Not for the first time, not for the last time:
The best way to use the phrase "begs the question" is not to.
#copyediting
It's not an advanced warning, it's an advance warning, and it's not an advance warning, it's simply a warning.
It's not an advanced warning, it's an advance warning, and it's not an advance warning, it's simply a warning.
December 3, 2024 at 3:52 AM
#copyediting
It's not an advanced warning, it's an advance warning, and it's not an advance warning, it's simply a warning.
It's not an advanced warning, it's an advance warning, and it's not an advance warning, it's simply a warning.
I don't know what to make of the assertion that the use of em dashes is a ChatGPT tell besides that it's ridiculous.
#copyediting
#copyediting
April 17, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don't know what to make of the assertion that the use of em dashes is a ChatGPT tell besides that it's ridiculous.
#copyediting
#copyediting
March 2, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Sometimes the answer to the question "How should this sentence be punctuated?" is "It should be entirely rewritten."
#copyediting
#copyediting
February 12, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Sometimes the answer to the question "How should this sentence be punctuated?" is "It should be entirely rewritten."
#copyediting
#copyediting
June 10, 2025 at 5:55 PM
August 20, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Prose Rules That Are Not Rules
• Don't begin a sentence with "And" or "But."*
• Don't conclude a sentence with a preposition.**
• Don't split infinitives.***
*Is it always the best thing to do? No. But...
**Churchill never said that thing.
***It's not even a real rule. Ignore it.
#copyediting
• Don't begin a sentence with "And" or "But."*
• Don't conclude a sentence with a preposition.**
• Don't split infinitives.***
*Is it always the best thing to do? No. But...
**Churchill never said that thing.
***It's not even a real rule. Ignore it.
#copyediting
November 29, 2024 at 5:51 PM
Prose Rules That Are Not Rules
• Don't begin a sentence with "And" or "But."*
• Don't conclude a sentence with a preposition.**
• Don't split infinitives.***
*Is it always the best thing to do? No. But...
**Churchill never said that thing.
***It's not even a real rule. Ignore it.
#copyediting
• Don't begin a sentence with "And" or "But."*
• Don't conclude a sentence with a preposition.**
• Don't split infinitives.***
*Is it always the best thing to do? No. But...
**Churchill never said that thing.
***It's not even a real rule. Ignore it.
#copyediting
For every nine times you want to italicize a word for emphasis, consider not doing it seven times.
#copyediting
#copyediting
August 20, 2025 at 9:59 PM
For every nine times you want to italicize a word for emphasis, consider not doing it seven times.
#copyediting
#copyediting
#copyediting
soft-pedal (v.) (piano-derived)
backpedal (v.) (bicycle-derived)
[not soft-peddle or back-peddle]
soft-pedal (v.) (piano-derived)
backpedal (v.) (bicycle-derived)
[not soft-peddle or back-peddle]
July 31, 2024 at 10:08 PM
#copyediting
soft-pedal (v.) (piano-derived)
backpedal (v.) (bicycle-derived)
[not soft-peddle or back-peddle]
soft-pedal (v.) (piano-derived)
backpedal (v.) (bicycle-derived)
[not soft-peddle or back-peddle]
April 21, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Approximately 92 percent of the time you type parent's you mean parents'.
Approximately 97 percent of the time you type lightening you mean lightning.
#copyediting
Approximately 97 percent of the time you type lightening you mean lightning.
#copyediting
September 10, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Approximately 92 percent of the time you type parent's you mean parents'.
Approximately 97 percent of the time you type lightening you mean lightning.
#copyediting
Approximately 97 percent of the time you type lightening you mean lightning.
#copyediting
January 28, 2025 at 9:52 PM
September 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM