Bill Walsh was a great copy editor whose most important contribution — in a life cut far too short — was to teach editor and writers how to think. I’m one of those beneficiaries.
Tag Archives: copy editing
USA Network and “White Collar” only vaguely know how to spell “judgment”
USA Network is running promos for the season finale of “White Collar.” Now, I neither watch nor have an opinion on that show, and the idea of “season finale” has been so diluted by USA Network’s splitting up of seasons into parts that, for all I know, this could be the seventh or eighth finaleContinue reading “USA Network and “White Collar” only vaguely know how to spell “judgment””
Society’s quality-control problem with editing
Depleted newsrooms are every day illustrating what a lack of copy editing does — a slow sapping of quality and quality control. It doesn’t mean no news is gathered or that the language is destroyed, but the effect might be more insidious. Only the most able-eyed and loudest notice, and their noise is often dismissedContinue reading “Society’s quality-control problem with editing”
When not to be a nit-pick editor
One of the problems with hyphenation in the English language is when there are strings of words requiring them. Even normally adept writers struggle, adding hyphens where they aren’t needed or falling one hyphen short. Context is key, and there are good arguments for situations where simplifying the language to avoid hyphens is best. However,Continue reading “When not to be a nit-pick editor”
James daSilva 