The Nitpicker’s Nook: December’s linguistic links roundup

The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts from around the Web. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected].

By Laura Godfrey

• You know an editor’s work is important, but did you know not hiring an editor could land you in small claims court? That’s what one Halifax graphic designer learned when he created a restaurant menu riddled with typos. (CBC News)

•  Are you up to date on your box-related vocabulary? Think inside the box and try this fun, fill-in-the-blank Boxing Day quiz. (Copyediting.com)
• Writer and editor Beth Bates is proud her children love literature, but laments that she “raised two grammar-rule snobs pained by a grammar-oblivious generation.” She’s learned that instead of posting those “gotcha” comments after spotting an online typo, it’s more important to read for knowledge and pleasure.  (Read>Play>Edit)
• Did you know that early-bird rates are available until February 28, 2015, for EAC’s Editing Goes Global international conference, happening June 12–14 in downtown Toronto? This conference will feature speakers from the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. (EAC)

• Don’t see how a ruler can help you in your copy editing? Check our EAC-certified copy editor Adrienne Montgomerie’s list of eight ways a ruler can come in handy, including useful typo-detecting brain hacks. (Copyediting.com)

•  Have you verified your facts? The Globe and Mail‘s public editor, Sylvia Stead, reminds us that making a factual error once can lead to that error being repeated over and over. That’s what happened with The Globe‘s stories on the death of Edward Snowshoe, a young inmate who killed himself after spending more than five months in segregation. (The Globe and Mail)
• If you’re seeking out editing or translation work in Ottawa-Gatineau, check out this article over at The Editors’ Weekly, EAC’s national blog. There are many opportunities in the Ottawa area to find government work in English or French through municipal, provincial, and federal offices. (The Editors’ Weekly)

Laura Godfrey is a Toronto-based copy editor, Canadian correspondent for Publishers Weekly magazine, and editor-in-chief of BoldFace, the blog of EAC’s Toronto branch.

This article was copy edited by Robin Marwick.