In retrospect, these irregularities should have been the first warning signs. But desperation prevailed, and we signed and returned the document as quickly as we could, eager to end our protracted search for next year’s home. Read More…
In early December 2012, I awoke to a phone call informing me I would be working on the Washington Post’s copy desk in the summer. I was elated. I had wanted to intern for a major newspaper for years, and, with the Post’s offer, my dream appeared to finally be Read More…
If the distinction between two words is clear, why is there confusion about such words’ use? While editing, I often ask myself this question, as writers often seem uncertain about whether to use “if” or “whether” in sentences. Admittedly, this mistake is somewhat understandable: The words’ usages are somewhat similar Read More…
Since the beginning of the spring semester, I’ve been sure to distinguish between “since” and “because” because the difference, while typically disregarded, is neither subtle nor insignificant. Indeed, as I learned while studying for an internship program’s copy test, the words’ meanings are entirely dissimilar. “Since” should be used when Read More…
There is a 100 percent chance that this sentence is partially incorrect. There is zero chance, however, that this sentence is partly incorrect. Why? The answer, as any even partially observant reader might notice, lies in each sentence’s final adverb. Admittedly, the distinction between “partially” and “partly” is of interest Read More…
While UC Berkeley’s football team might not rival that of Stanford, its newspaper vastly outshines the miserable broadsheet our friends to the south unjustly call a news source. In a stunning feat of cooperation, The Daily Californian and The Stanford Daily produced a single special issue for Saturday’s Big Game. Read More…
I have a great deal of respect for many of those who serve our country in uniform, but I have nothing but contempt for the talentless individuals who write their advertisements, which evince little other than a failure to comprehend the usage of basic parts of speech: As any grade-school Read More…
Usually, I can easily understand the source of a common error: Some people say “irregardless” because they fail to realize the suffix “-less” does the work of the here-inappropriate prefix “ir-”; others confuse “affect” and “effect” due to the relative similarity of their meanings and usage. In the case of Read More…
One can only hope that our friends to the south intend to include a significant copy editing session in their maintenance. To begin, Presidents Day comprises only a single day of this weekend — perhaps the curious duplication above represents every student’s wish for another day of relaxation, but more Read More…
It looks like even the usually excellent daily hailed as the Newspaper of Record could benefit from greater care in copy editing on occasion: And again: Note: I have to commend the New York Times’ copy staff — prior to my finishing this post, both errors were already corrected.
