Some things to consider reading as your weekend ends and (I hope) you return to work.
- Late add: Of misnomers and misconceptions (Copyediting.com Tip of the Week) — Don’t have misconceptions of misnomers with this informer.
- Need to lay off? Pick a copy editor (Econ Tricks) — His argument is essentially that producing content is the key, and copy editors don’t do that. He formerly edited copy at the Washington Post, and much of it was “wasted effort.” I get where he’s coming from, but the argument is lacking, unfocused and dated — and could have used an editor’s insight. A better take is his “My RSS feed needs an editor” — an important notation of the need for curation beyond robots and algorithms.
- Small caps for acronyms: Who needs them? (Copyediting.com Tip of the Week) — I wasn’t aware most places were still doing this. Small caps, in my experience, has become a design question, not one involving language.
- E-mail rules for job-seekers (DC Works) — Standard, solid advice, and includes a few D.C.-area job postings.
- Things spell-check won’t catch (Tiedemania!!) — Spell-checking software is not evil, nor is it really responsible for killing jobs (except at the most foolish of companies), and we’re all aware of its shortcomings. Still, it’s sometimes nice to see them in practice.
James daSilva 