A nerdy, fascinating read from Keith Houston for BBC Culture: The mysterious origins of punctuation
Category: Information
Nov 23
The return of pictograms
Sep 03
Don’t feel bad: you overlook typos because you’re really smart
Here’s an interesting science-based explanation of why we fail to see mistakes in our own writing. This supports the common practice of having someone with ‘fresh eyes’ proofread any important document. From Nick Stockton at wired.com.
Aug 29
Oldest English words
Researchers have recently released interesting analysis of our language, using historical documents to trace the usages of words and relationships between languages. This BBC article reports a handful of words that are among the oldest (I, we, two, and three, but not four), and which words the research predicts may soon fall from use (dirty, …
Aug 17
New dictionary entries
Jun 07
Self-publishers, take note
Forbes contributor Suw Charman-Anderson offers these lessons drawn from a recent survey of self-publishing writers. It seems that “getting help, paid or unpaid, with editing, copy editing and proofreading provided a 13 per cent bump in earnings.” Meanwhile, “authors who did their own story editing, copy editing, proofreading, and cover design did slightly worse, making …
Apr 08
Demonyms, or gentilics
Demons? No, put together the Greek demos meaning populace (demographics, demo and the suffix -onym meaning name (synonym, acronym). Demonyms, also known at gentilics, describe persons from a particular place. In English, the most common constructions add a suffix to the name of the locale: -ian, -(a)n, -ite, -er, -ish, -ine, etc. There are many …
Mar 09
Save the Words
I found a great website, sponsored by Oxford University Press, where language lovers can adopt an endangered English word and pledge to keep it in use. It’s fun, silly, and entertaining. I am now the sponsor of interfation (noun): the act of cutting off another person while speaking. Clearly I have my work cut out …
Feb 28
Dictionary of American Regional English
A fifty-year project is nearing completion, with the final volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English due for publication this spring. The New York Times takes a look at the history, process, and product of the effort: Regional Dictionary Finally Hits ‘Zydeco’ The University of Wisconsin-Madison has fun matching games to quiz your regional …
Feb 22
What does a copyeditor do?
Here’s a clear and precise explanation of each role in the publication process. Not every book/article/dissertation/essay/grocery list goes through the same editorial steps. There are variations according to the manuscript’s genre, project budget, and anticipated scale of distribution. A self-publishing writer of science fiction may be able to afford only a proofreader. A major newspaper …