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Pam Nelson: The Grammar Guide

 

‘Stylebooks’ archive

Number of comments in parentheses

Feb. 6: If you don’t know, go to the experts (2)

I have weaknesses as a copy editor. One of them is the use of commas. One good thing about knowing this is that I also know I can turn to expert when I am stumped. Just today I had to look up how to use commas in this sentence: ARSC Chairman Michael Brand said in a statement that after reviewing the 92 comment letters ARSC received on the proposed standards, “two primary concerns came through very clearly.”

Sept. 7, 2012: Strunk and White: Into the Elements again (3)

You might not think that such a slim book would inspire such devotion and such loathing. Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style is less than 100 pages long in most editions and was first published in 1959, but even today its influence is broad and deep in American writing. A New York Times story published in the 50th anniversary year of Elements of Style reported that about 10 million copies have been sold. A measure of the book’s importance is that its 50th anniversary was noted. The book has spawned an illustrated version, an opera and a book[.....]

May 28, 2012: Hyphens: Compound (word) interest

Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I have a weakness as a copy editor. It’s punctuation. I am often at a loss when a colleague asks me about commas, semicolons and hyphens. Usually, I can put the question off while I check the style guides and usage books. You would think that after all these years some of that research would have embedded the rules in my brain permanently, but apparently I have a deep-seated mental resistance.

May 8, 2012: Tricky word usage quiz: Distinctions you might know

My new job requires me to use The Economist Style Guide for some of the copy I edit. Today as I was thumbing through the book, I hit upon an entry that reminded me of the Guide’s rather persnickety usage advice. I decided to gather some examples and create a Grammar Guide quiz (No. 65) based on advice from the Style Guide. I learned many of these word choice distinctions as a newspaper copy editor and still adhere to some of them. They are good to know, if only as self-defense. As you would any usage guide, you can[.....]

Feb. 15, 2012: “Lowly” copy editor? Surely you jest (2)

A post by Yoni Goldstein at the National Post of Canada asserts, I hope with irony, that the copy editor in modern newsrooms is “basically, a human spellchecker and guardian of the newspaper’s arcane style guide, a set of rules (like whether to spell the word “aging” or “ageing”) most editors and reporters either ignore or forget.” This has caused a stir among our kind. I first saw the link on a Facebook post by Testy Copy Editor and later read a spirited and pointed response from John McIntyre, who has said what needs to be said about this.[.....]

Jan. 10, 2012: A tricky agreement problem: Neither-nor

I encountered this sentence in a news story today: Neither Prince nor Malloy were wearing seatbelts, according to the accident report. You might have spotted the problem; it’s easier to see when the sentence is isolated. When two subjects are joined by neither-nor or either-or, choosing the right number for the verb can be tricky for writers. Focus your attention on the noun closest to the verb. If it is singular, as in the sentence above, choose the singular verb. If the noun is plural, choose the plural form of the verb. The sometimes maligned Associated Press Stylebook advises[.....]