I was already planning on reading Anne Curzan’s new book, “Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words.” Now that I’ve read this a-hole’s review, that seals the deal.

washingtonpost.com/books/2024/04/…

Is this supposed to be a pun?

Yeah, I understand that cats meow, but is “meow” supposed to sound like another word? A better (but still bad choice) might have been “Affordable pet surgery? We’ll take it right meow.”

This is why no one buys newspapers anymore! (Not really.)

When people on social media have bad takes, do we unfollow them to make our lives easier? Or do we continue following them to stay up to date on bad takes? This, I struggle with.

Here we go. Time for my version of Christmas morning, as we get to unwrap this year’s changes in AP style at #ACES2024 . I’ll be live skeeting updates I deem significant. Join me over on Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/thegra…

Getting recombobulated before I board my flight to the ACES conference in sunny San Diego. Make sure to stop by the Dragonfly Editorial booth and say hi.

Seeing Herbie Hancock live tonight and leaving for the ACES: The Society for Editing conference in the morning. Perhaps only Peter Sokolowski can understand what a good week this is for me.

With baseball season underway, I’d like to remind sports writers that not every hit is a “clutch” hit.

A mere 24 hours after tweeting this, I received an email allegedly from ACES: The Society for Editing that says: “We’re running a poll and would love your input: Oxford comma, yes or no?”

There’s no third option, like “it depends”?

(It’s a moot point because survey link leads to a blank page.)

It’s not that I don’t care about the Oxford comma. It’s that, when I’m editing verbose, corporate-speak-infested business communication, I have much bigger fish to fry. Let’s devote more energy to clarity in all sentences, not just the ones that contain lists.

Do you consider yourself a digital native?

Don’t ask for my definition of “digital native.” That’s up to you.

OMG OMG OMG OMG

Announcing keynote speakers ⁦MarthaBarnette⁩ and ⁦Grant Barrett⁩ at ACES 2024 San Diego | ACES: The Society for Editing aceseditors.org/news/2024/anno…

In the U.S., a flag is flown at half-MAST on a ship or at a naval station. A flag is flown at half-STAFF elsewhere on land.

In the U.K., “half-mast” is the more popular term, whether the flag is at sea or on land.

That’s all I can contribute to the conversation.

Hello, ACES: The Society for Editing or anyone else who might know the answer to my question! Will there be an event app for #ACES2024 ? I can’t find the event in Whova.

My hot #DST take: If they really wanted it to be 'daylight saving time' (with no '-s' on 'saving'), they should have made it 'daylight-saving time' (with emphasis on 'daylight').

Here’s the thing about split infinitives (which are perfectly fine): When you try to put the infinitive back together, you can change the meaning of the sentence. To run quickly to the library and to quickly run to the library are two different things.

Do these sentences mean the same thing, or is there a subtle difference?

I’m talking about meaning, not construction. (Clearly there’s a difference in their construction.)

• I need to run quickly to the library.
• I need to quickly run to the library.

I’m in the waiting area while my car is getting serviced, and this person next to me has been talking on their phone for an hour straight to the same person. I don’t think I’ve come close to that since 2003.

Merriam-Webster posted this little nugget on Instagram last week. The replies are plentiful. Old news for some, breaking news for others. Of course, you have tight-asses who refuse to let go of what they were taught. But most folks seem to agree, which I find encouraging.