by Keith Goddard Every Friday when I pick up pizza from my local Toronto pizza chain, I see a sign that tells me it’s fine to park in their parking lot whilst I’m in their restaurant. Whilst? Sounds quaint, but that’s not proper Canadian English, eh? My dictionaries label it as British, and Garner’s Modern English Usage, fourth edition (Garner … Continue reading English Usage: Variants, Dictionaries, and Editorial Judgement
Category: language
Book Review: Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer
by Indu Singh In the first chapter of Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, the author poses a challenge to his readers: go a week without writing any of the words out of a list of what he considers pointless adverbs, including very, rather, really, quite, just, so, surely, of course, … Continue reading Book Review: Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer
Book Review: Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples by Gregory Younging
by Indu Singh Exactly one year ago today, members of Editors Toronto had the privilege of hearing Gregory Younging speak about his recently published style guide, Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples, at a regular monthly Editors Toronto program meeting. The standing-room-only program was one of our most … Continue reading Book Review: Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples by Gregory Younging
How to manage translation and still have fun
by Alana Chalmers “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This is one of those inspirational, yet anonymous, quotes that makes you want to hunt down that person and dump a pile of work on their desk. Or their beach towel. Because they probably have … Continue reading How to manage translation and still have fun
Book Review: Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper
by Michelle Waitzman Most people take dictionaries for granted. They are available to us, at home or at school, from the time we first learn to read. Those of us who work with words rely on them regularly. But few of us spend much time thinking about how a dictionary is put together and kept … Continue reading Book Review: Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper
Book Review: Nabokov’s Favorite Word Is Mauve by Ben Blatt
by Michelle Waitzman Can you tell whether a book was written by a man or a woman, based only on the words the author used? Is the road to hell (or at least to bad writing) paved with adverbs, as Stephen King once claimed? Do American authors write “louder” than British authors? If you’re intrigued … Continue reading Book Review: Nabokov’s Favorite Word Is Mauve by Ben Blatt
Editing the work of English language learners in higher education
by Summer Cowley As classes in universities and colleges move forward, we ought to consider the process of editing the writing of post-secondary students. For me, this has largely meant checking the work of English language learners (ELLs). In my work as a writing centre tutor and as an English as a second language (ESL) … Continue reading Editing the work of English language learners in higher education
Indigenous editing principles, featuring Gregory Younging and his new style guide, Elements of Indigenous Style
When: NEW TIME: Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 6:30–8 PM Where: NEW LOCATION: Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) Spadina, 192 Spadina Ave., Third Floor, Room F (CSI Spadina moved across the street, to 192 Spadina Ave., as of late September.) For the second program meeting of 2018–19, we are excited to feature Dr. Gregory Younging, author of … Continue reading Indigenous editing principles, featuring Gregory Younging and his new style guide, Elements of Indigenous Style
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