Here’s a not-safe-for-pearl-clutchers version that’s truer to what I would say.
What technically correct spelling or grammar rule have you given up on enforcing? Did you go through a period of mourning when you finally let it go?
Editor Indexer Trainer Publishing consultant Researcher
Here’s a not-safe-for-pearl-clutchers version that’s truer to what I would say.
What technically correct spelling or grammar rule have you given up on enforcing? Did you go through a period of mourning when you finally let it go?
In academic writing, correcting “comprised of.” It’s so pervasive that using just “comprised” looks wrong to many people now 🙁
So many…irregardless, supposebly, there/their/they’re and others too numerous to list. I think it’s sad that the English language has devolved to the extent that it has. Maybe it’s always been as bad as it is now and we just are more aware of it now in the age of social media.
With so much home-time these days, I’ve been reading piles of old letters and it’s so interesting, and surprising, to see all the spelling errors that today would be auto-corrected or flagged and corrected. So, spelling has improved, but not because people are better at it. (Personally, I prefer to check my dictionary app with two clicks over the dreaded “look it up in the dictionary” instruction I heard so many times growing up.)
Editors, don’t give up!