by Priya Murmu Editing content across English variants can be a daunting task. You scratch your head while staring at the screen, pondering whether the word should be spelled dialogue or dialog, dreamt or dreamed, or whether the period should fall inside or outside of the quotation marks. Then, you spend quite some time browsing … Continue reading Editing Across English Variants: Parallels and Polarities
Category: language
On Italicizing Non-English Words
by Natalia Iwanek Over the past decade, there has been ongoing debate about the use of italics as a style choice for non-English words or phrases that may not be familiar to – what is often considered – the monolingual audience of the North American English-language writing, editing, and publishing industries. This is of particular … Continue reading On Italicizing Non-English Words
English Usage: Variants, Dictionaries, and Editorial Judgement
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
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
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