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proofreading

Fake Poohs

April 3, 2021August 27, 2019

In the social-media-driven world of today, accuracy is more important than ever. It’s also, it seems, increasingly hard to find. A huge amount of what we read these days, on- or off-line, seems to be either … Read more

Categories editing, proofreading, writing Tags accuracy, attribution, fact-checking, fake news, parody, research, winnie the pooh

For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost

March 18, 2021July 23, 2019

Proofreading by definition comes at the end of most publishing projects, and for that reason is the part of the process most frequently put off or even ignored. One of the most thankless aspects of … Read more

Categories editing, proofreading, writing Tags planning, project management, quality control

Please, don’t critique me!

March 22, 2021January 4, 2019

The word ‘critic’ originally denoted a judge, whose job was to draw the (often fine) distinction between a good or bad action, a defendant’s guilt or innocence, or the positive or negative outcome of a … Read more

Categories editing, presentation, proofreading, writing Tags criticize, critique, lexical ambiguity, lexical shift

A question of style

March 22, 2021December 17, 2018

Because everyone uses language differently, style guides exist to provide some degree of consistency. They are like rule-books, providing a ‘correct’ approach to punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, disputed spellings and so on. They also cover … Read more

Categories editing, presentation, proofreading, writing Tags style, style guides

Looking for a good editor or proofreader?

March 18, 2021December 14, 2018

First, make sure which service you actually need. A proofreader is there to perform what is usually a final check of your writing, to ensure there are no errors of spelling, punctuation or grammar that might … Read more

Categories editing, proofreading, writing Tags academic, college, dissertation, theses, thesis, university

From basket to casket

March 18, 2021December 7, 2018

Verbal ambiguities are frequently the cause of laughter, sometimes at inappropriate moments. During the state funeral of the 41st President of the United States, for instance, many onlookers were touched by the loyalty of George … Read more

Categories editing, proofreading, writing Tags ambiguity, george bush, humor, humour, lexical ambiguity, object, president, relative clause, subject

When is ‘a ticket’ just the ticket?

March 22, 2021December 3, 2018

I am always impressed by non-native speakers who take real pains to learn the ins and outs of English, and who get the details right in print and in conversation. It’s all the more frustrating, … Read more

Categories editing, learning, proofreading, speaking, writing Tags articles, definite article, punctuation

A note on apostrophes

March 18, 2021November 22, 2018

  The much-maligned apostrophe is actually an incredibly useful punctuation mark, allowing writers and editors to distinguish in print between plurals and possessive forms of nouns in sentences that may sound identical but mean very … Read more

Categories editing, proofreading, speaking, writing Tags london, punctuation, signage

Paying one’s dues

March 22, 2021November 13, 2018

A frequent question concerns the correct use of ‘owing to’ and ‘due to’. Both phrases originate in the world of finance and moneylending; and of course the word ‘due’ still has the sense of ‘money owed’ … Read more

Categories editing, proofreading, writing Tags grammar, predicate, prepositions, president, verbs

The dating game

March 22, 2021August 1, 2018

Some of the most confusing aspects of English style have nothing to do with sentences, words, or even letters, but numbers; for instance, the thorny question of when it is better to use digits (‘1…9’), … Read more

Categories editing, proofreading, writing Tags calendar, dates, months, numbers
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