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An image of the head of an older woman, thoughtfully stroking her chin.

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Gettable Grammar: Less is More

Tuesday January 15, 2013

Gettable Grammar is a monthly series of conjectures, opinions and postulates by Karen Virag. LESS IS MORE, NOT FEWER. EXCEPT SOMETIMES. The question of when to use fewer and when to use less perplexes many people. Generally speaking, you should use fewer to refer to a smaller number and less to refer to a smaller […]

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editing grammar lexicography usage

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4701004 (Veer) man reading

An older man appears to be reading a book. When we see anyone with a book, we assume they can read, and yet literacy can’t be assumed. Though this is Freedom to Read Week (2013), this EAC blog post for The Editors’ Weekly asks about the freedom to read—at all.

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Image of sepia-toned, handwritten words in a grungy collage with red and brown smeared colours.

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Victoria Neufeldt

Old Words

Tuesday April 16, 2013

Old words are just as interesting as new words. But how old is old? We use a good number of words today that go all the way back to Old English, the language of the Germanic peoples who invaded and then settled in England in the fifth century A.D. These “native” words are some of […]

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etymology lexicography lexicon Old English old words

An employee peeks out from behind 4 large boxes he’s holding; 49 KB.

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DISPATCHES 4: What’s an Intern Worth?

Tuesday May 28, 2013

So now that you know what editorial interns do and you have some tips to get you started, I’m sure you’re wondering how the editorial staff really feels about interns. This question was burning in my mind when I started at Random House Canada. With so many interns coming in (up to eight a year in […]

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book editors book publishing editorial intern intern internship publishing

View of a man at his typewriter from over his left shoulder. The man is 30ish, has buzz-cut hair and black-rimmed glasses.

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Going Out of Style

Tuesday June 18, 2013

It’s house style. I don’t think I fully appreciated the power of that sentence until I could no longer use it. As editors we’re constantly striving to balance the needs of the publisher, author and reader, but with the growth of self- and custom publishing, the needs of the publisher are becoming irrelevant in more […]

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editing house style self-published authors self-publishing

Golf balls and stones on sand under water.

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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Taking issue with “issues”

Thursday July 11, 2013

I think I remember the first time I heard the word issues used as a synonym for problems. I was watching a long-forgotten television sitcom, and one character commented on another’s weird behaviour by saying, “She has issues.” She overenunciated the word issues and at the same time made little scratching gestures with her index […]

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editing publishing style useage word choice

The love of money is not only the root of all evil; it is also the root of ghastly copy.

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WASTED WORDS: Squandering Words on Money

Wednesday October 9, 2013

The love of money is not only the root of all evil; it is also the root of ghastly copy. I find it particularly ironic that word economy has only a fleeting acquaintance with commerce. Consider the grating and ubiquitous tautology, expensive price, as in, “The house with a river view comes at a more […]

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editing redundancies redundancy tautologies tautology Wasted Words wordiness

Plate of peanut butter cookies, with accompanied by caption with awkward wording quoted from an Air Canada lounge.

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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Verbal Boobery (VB)

Tuesday November 19, 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: Now, I have to say, I don’t know why so many people complain about Air Canada. Knowing how many passengers are […]

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Gettable Grammar grammar usage

happy_editor

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Virginia Durksen

Myth: It Takes a Certain Personality to Become an Editor

Tuesday March 25, 2014

Any profession draws certain personality types to it more readily than others. But just as there’s no single lawyer or doctor or teacher type, there’s more than one editor type. Editors come in all sorts. Editors can be achievers, caretakers, managers, control freaks, idea generators, intellectuals, entrepreneurs — and are often a bit of everything […]

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editing editor editor's personality editor's role editors at work freelance editors in-house editor publishing

crumpled_drafts

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A Game-Changing Writing Exercise

Tuesday April 1, 2014

As a writer, I always struggle with verbs. How many times have I used said, replied or answered? Can I think of a better verb to avoid being repetitive? Do I even need the verb? Verbs, seriously, keep me awake at night. So when I skimmed a recent online newsletter, Chuck Palahniuk’s “Thought Verbs” practically […]

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usage word choice writers writing writing exercise