Editing Archives - Page 7 of 24

At the ACES national conference, the Associated Press announced that the 2019 edition of the AP Stylebook would be dropping the hyphen in compound modifiers “if the meaning is clear without it.” Examples include “third grade teacher” and first quarter touchdown.”

What do you think of this change?

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I, novice

Four-frame cartoon. Two editors sit with laptops at a table. Frame 1: The bearded editor says, “Huh.” Bespectacled editor says, “What?” Frame 2: Bearded editor says, “Just noticed that my invoice template says I-N-O-V-I-C-E.” Bespectacled editor says, “Uh-oh. How long have you used that template?” Frame 3: Bearded editor says, “Since I launched my business! Where finding and correcting typos is LITERALLY MY JOB.” Frame 4: Bearded editor says, “What do you call Muphry’s Law at the macro, existential level?” Bespectacled editor replies, “I think it might toggle back to Murphy at that point.”

Brave enough to share your* most embarrassing editing goofs? Head over to Twitter.

*or [cough] a colleague’s

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Submission

Eight-panel cartoon. Panel 1: A man sits next to bespectacled editor at a café. He says, “So you’re an editor? I guess I’d better watch how I talk around you, huh? Panel 2: Bespectacled editor responds, “Heh. Not at all. I promise I won’t judge your grammar unless you ask me to.” Panel 3: Man says, “Oh, I won’t mind. You can be as harsh as you want with me. I can take it… In fact…” Panel 4: Man leans toward bespectacled editor, and says, “I’ve been very, VERY bad…” Panel 5: Bespectacled editor looks bewildered. Panel 6: She says, “Um…I think I know someone who can help.” Panel 7: Curly-haired editor is on her cellphone, and she says, “Hey, thanks for the referral.” Panel 8: The frame pans out to show the man in shackles in a dungeon and curly-haired editor holding a whip that looks like a dele. She says, “I’m sure it’ll be a great fit!”

Caption the last panel over on Twitter!

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Resolution

Six-frame cartoon. In the first frame, a managing editor and bespectacled editor are at a New Year’s Eve party. The wall has a banner that says “Happy New Year.” The managing editor says, “Have you made any resolutions?” Bespectacled editor says, “Yeah. I’m saying no to all projects until I’m done my dissertation.” The managing editor talks through frames 2 to 5: “Oh, drat. I had you in mind for a fun new cookbook series we’re publishing. The recipes showcase ingredients related by etymology, like how pumpkins, apples, melons, and pomegranates are related by the root ‘pome.’ The author traces language change through a selection of recipes, and the foreword’s by a food anthropologist. And we’ve got a book coming by a health literacy specialist about how plain language should be part of accessibility legislation. I thought you’d want to work on that.” In the last frame, we see bespectacled editor clearly in distress, sweating profusely.

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Rites of passage

What spellings, styles, and usages scrambled your brain when you first encountered them? Let me know here and on Twitter (#EditorialRitesofPassage).

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Inkproofing

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Summertime

(Click through to enlarge!)

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Turd

Shoutout to the many editors who have put in the time, effort, and skill needed to turn shapeless, smelly turds into coprolites and then polish them to a mirror finish. Too often your dedication goes unnoticed.

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Slides

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Category: Editing

Nuance

Busted open

I, novice

Submission

Resolution

Rites of passage

Inkproofing

Summertime

Turd

Slides