No, I Don't Have Any Blue Oyster Cult- June 30, 2008 I came across a refreshing usage at work last night.Mark Rozell, a professor of political science at George Mason University, said the similarity of the attacks suggests a concerted effort to "build a picture" about Obama's character before the political newcomer has a chance to convince people of the truth of his rhetoric.Yes! For once, concerted means "concerted"! The story was about various McCain operatives working together, in concert. That's right: To make a concerted effort, despite...http://theslot.blogspot.com/2008/06/no-i-dont-have-any-blue-oyster-cult.html Hello- June 26, 2008 If you're reading this blog, you don't need to be told this. But just in case:Copy editors must check all telephone numbers in the material they're editing. That means picking up the phone and calling the number. Telephone-number corrections should be virtually nonexistent. (As you also no doubt know, they're pretty common.)The same goes for Web addresses.http://theslot.blogspot.com/2008/06/hello.html Mission Viejo Masala- June 25, 2008 Welcome to the OC, bitch.http://theslot.blogspot.com/2008/06/mission-viejo-masala.html They Like Us; They Really Like Us- June 21, 2008 On the heels of Lawrence Downes's sincere elegy to copy editors in the New York Times, Gene Weingarten tips his hat as only Gene can do in the Washington Post.UPDATE: Chris Wienandt and David Sullivan respond to the Times piece.http://theslot.blogspot.com/2008/06/they-like-us-they-really-like-us.html More Fun With (the Lack of) Helping Verbs- June 19, 2008 No structural problem here, just a humorous linguistic coincidence that makes me think the headline writer was a robot, not a human.http://theslot.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-fun-with-lack-of-helping-verbs.html Presumptions, Presumptions- June 9, 2008 Yes, it's wrong to call either Barack Obama or John McCain a nominee until the conventions decree them so. They've clinched, claimed and even secured their parties' nominations, but they haven't received or accepted those nominations. So go ahead and insert "presumptive" before "nominee," but don't feel the need to repeat "Presumptive nominee! Presumptive nominee! Presumptive nominee!" like a parrot forced to watch MSNBC. It's especially silly to write about how Sen. Barack Obama is planning...http://theslot.blogspot.com/2008/06/presumptions-presumptions.html |