Night Department

“OK but hear me out: I get that we’re copy editors and all, but why do we have to be like that when we see anything spelled incorrectly?”

Like many Taiwanese schoolchildren, my earliest forays into the vast world of Chinese literature began with the recitation of the San Zi Jing (Three-Character Classic) — perhaps best described as catechisms for the budding Confucianist.

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).

If you ask me whether a verb is in the subjunctive mood, it’ll take me a while at best, require that I look up “subjunctive” before I can do the this hypothetical test set before me at worst.

As a copy editor, I know that typo-riddled content that needs after-the-fact correction simply could not have been reviewed by many people — in all likelihood, it was not reviewed at all.

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.

Slang: sometimes its use in publication is lit, but other times it gets wack, and, shall we say, corny? Maybe we should not.

Of course, I don’t tell him that copy editing just feels intrinsically satisfying. I don’t tell him that it allows me some miniscule amount of order and linear progression as I come to terms with the notion that I, as a freshman, can only pretend to have plans for my own future.

From fourth to 11th grade, I took a fervent, sweaty pride in being the goalkeeper for my school’s soccer team. I grew used to gaining little credit for doing something right but bearing the brunt of the responsibility for doing something wrong.

Extraneous apostrophes have always mystified me.