THE EDITORS' WEEKLY

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Shalini Khan

“Broken” English

February 13, 2018 by Shalini Khan | 4 Comments on “Broken” English

Have you seen this meme? There is no such thing as American English. There is English and there are mistakes. First appearing on Twitter in June 2014, the original tweet was tongue-in-cheek, in keeping with the account’s satirical leaning. The words have since taken on a life of their own, and the resulting memes are shared […]

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Virginia Durksen

The Inner Editor: Please Allow Me To … Interrupt You

February 6, 2018 by Virginia Durksen | 12 Comments on The Inner Editor: Please Allow Me To … Interrupt You

On Facebook recently, a colleague reported being the victim of a phone hijacking. You might recognize the feeling. A potential client calls to ask about editing services and then spends the better part of an hour telling her story with barely a breath between sentences, leaving you with no room to speak. There it is. […]

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Micheline Frechette

Autonomes oui, mais partenaires

January 30, 2018 by Micheline Fréchette | 1 Comment on Autonomes oui, mais partenaires

Selon les dernières statistiques, un nombre record de Canadiens étaient travailleurs autonomes en 2016 – près de 2,8 millions. Ce chiffre n’a cessé d’augmenter au cours des 20 dernières années. Et pour cause : travailler pour soi-même peut apporter de nombreux avantages : liberté, flexibilité et la chance de poursuivre vos rêves. Mais cela peut […]

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Tracey Anderson

Editing Technical Instructional Material: Do You Need to Be an Expert?

January 23, 2018 by Tracey Anderson | 21 Comments on Editing Technical Instructional Material: Do You Need to Be an Expert?

“How can you edit that? You don’t know anything about being an electrician.” I often heard that question and variations of it — carpenter, instrument technician, welder — in my years editing technical instructional materials for apprenticeship trades in Alberta. This is how I answered the question. I am the target audience The goal of […]

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Brendan O’Brien

The Perils of Not Knowing

January 16, 2018 by Brendan O'Brien | 10 Comments on The Perils of Not Knowing

One of the downsides of freelance editing is that you’re not there (wherever “there” may be) to explain your thinking on occasions when it might be appropriate to do so. Furthermore, you’re probably unaware that such occasions have even arisen. When I had in-house jobs, I learned a lot from bosses and colleagues. In my […]

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Karen Virag

Revisiting Verbal Boobery

January 9, 2018 by Karen Virag | 8 Comments on Revisiting Verbal Boobery

In memory of Karen Virag, who passed away Jan. 11, 2014, we are pleased to republish one of her popular blog posts from November 2013. Verbal whatery? Not long ago in the Air Canada Lounge at Toronto Pearson Airport I noticed a small sign beside a tray of freshly baked cookies. It said: “For the […]

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Anna Williams

Happy Holidays and Year in Review

December 19, 2017 by Anna Williams | 3 Comments on Happy Holidays and Year in Review

Dear Readers, We’ve had some fantastic content on the blog this year, from Marianne Grier’s description of her reintroduction to Canadian English to Marion Soublière’s report after attending an editing conference in Scotland. We enjoyed Brendan O’Brien’s inaugural post about being a reluctant editor and were fascinated to learn about Dracula puzzles from Sara Goodchild. We’ve […]

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James Harbeck

A Macaronic Feather in Our Cap

December 12, 2017 by James Harbeck | 2 Comments on A Macaronic Feather in Our Cap

English is gloriously macaronic. I don’t mean that it’s like a big bowl of elbow noodles, not exactly. But I also don’t mean that it’s like a macaron — well, maybe I do, but that’s not what the word means. Macaronic, linguistically, refers to something that’s a mixture of languages. Macaronic poetry, for instance, may […]

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Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: On the PC Front

December 5, 2017 by Wilf Popoff | 38 Comments on Wasted Words: On the PC Front

The Grey Cup eluded the Edmonton Eskimos again this year, but that’s not the worst of the team’s troubles: the political correctness refs want it to lose its name as well. The club chose its regrettable label in 1949, but it had been widely used by other Edmonton football squads for more than 50 years. […]

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Virginia Durksen

Revisiting the Inner Editor: December Is the Cruellest Month

November 28, 2017 by Virginia Durksen | 4 Comments on Revisiting the Inner Editor: December Is the Cruellest Month

Last year, we published this post on the freelancer’s holiday blues. This year, we’re following up with our readers. Have you implemented any of these ideas? Do you have other tips for avoiding the holiday lull? When projects disappear in other months, the freelance editor adjusts her schedule and cash flow projections and stoically reminds […]

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