by Jackie Liu Learning a second language is a challenge for most people, and eloquence in the language sometimes seems impossible, especially if it's English. Jackie Liu explains this feeling, but also shares his realization that one doesn't need to use "posh" words to sound sophisticated; the secret lies in how they are arranged. Photo … Continue reading The Words Are Ordinary. The Arrangement Is Royal.
Tag: language
From the Archives: Plain Language Resistance: Is “Plain” the Problem?
by Tracey Anderson This week, the three blogs of Editors Canada are cross-posting favourite articles from the archives of a different blog. Yesterday West Coast Editor featured Priya Murmu’s article on time management for editors (a BoldFace original), and tomorrow you can have a look over at The Editor’s Weekly for a feature from the … Continue reading From the Archives: Plain Language Resistance: Is “Plain” the Problem?
Memorable quotes from previous “BoldFace” articles
When we prepare articles for publication, copy editors and reviewers often highlight parts of the text that resonate with them. In this article, we’ve made a collection of a few of those great quotes. We hope you enjoy it! Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash Dania Sheldon, freelance editor, writer, researcher and indexer, on the … Continue reading Memorable quotes from previous “BoldFace” articles
Editing Across English Variants: Parallels and Polarities
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
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
Editors Advise: Dealing with Your Clients
In this series, Editors Toronto members and BoldFace contributors share their experiences, insights, and tips on the practical aspects of working as an editor or writer. In the previous edition of “Editors Advise,” six editors recommended their go-to websites and books on grammar and style. This time we zero in on the editor-client relationship: handling … Continue reading Editors Advise: Dealing with Your Clients
Book Review: Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar by David Crystal
Crystal against crystallization by James Harbeck (Oxford University Press, 2017) How can we have crystal-clear language spoken by people with a crystal-clear understanding of how it works? For one thing, don’t try to crystallize it—just Crystal-ize. Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar, by David Crystal, is for anyone who wants to get Crystal … Continue reading Book Review: Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar by David Crystal
Book Review: The Story of Be: A Verb’s-Eye View of the English Language by David Crystal
(Oxford University Press, 2017) By Christine Albert Some words are so familiar that it feels as though we instinctively know what they mean. And when we don’t, we use a dictionary to read its definition and determine how it can be placed alongside other words to form cohesive narratives. But how often do we think … Continue reading Book Review: The Story of Be: A Verb’s-Eye View of the English Language by David Crystal
