Everything’s an argument
Ostensibly, the clock was a piece of plastic hardware that tracked the seconds, minutes and hours of the day, but my teacher made it count for so much more.
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On writing by hand
There is a curious satisfaction in putting pen to paper (especially when that pen is a Muji 0.38mm — try it, it’ll change your life).
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Catching a buzz
While the term “buzzword” often refers to catchy or industry-relevant phrases, I am here referring to the phrases and words that become detached from their meaning and lose their impact.
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Chewing on ‘corny’
Slang: sometimes its use in publication is lit, but other times it gets wack, and, shall we say, corny? Maybe we should not.
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i’m yeLLING
One of the more common critiques of the rise of technology and social media is that it stunts human connection. “Put down your phone and have a real conversation with someone.”
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Dictionary deity
As a copy editor of this publication, the bona fide final bastion against hasty mistakes, I take my job seriously as a prophet of George and Charles Merriam, wielding my holy book.
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Only the grammar
“You get to the point, eventually, that you see only the grammar.”
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Where linguistics and copy editing collide
I’ve always been struck by how odd language is — how meaningless combinations of speech sounds can be strung together in meaningful ways to somehow create an infinite possibility of phrases.
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The little things: skimming the surface
It is at times like these, at the end of the season’s production and the end of the semester, that I start to ponder the copy blog’s readership. (And, by extension, mine.) Readers of a blog about grammar, quite understandably, are at least as meticulous as its writers. Quis custodiet
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An everyday error
For future reference: Everyday is an adjective used to describe something that is common or ordinary. For example, a casual outfit is an everyday outfit. Every day is an adjective and a noun, meaning “each day.” For example, Berkeley students should use proper grammar every day.
