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The Maven, Nevermore (Ben Zimmer's tribute to the late William Safire and his language column in the New York Times). Here's Safire's How to Read a Column
"You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke."
~ Arthur Plotkin, author of The Elements of Editing
Association for the Abolition of the Aberrant Apostrophe. Read Richard Littlejohn's tribute to Keith Waterhouse , the legend of Fleet Street, then scroll down and read read a reprint of the classic column in which, more than 20 years ago, he launched the Association for the Abolition of the Aberrant Apostrophe. To quote from that: "The AAAA has two simple goals. Its first is to round up and confiscate superfluous apostrophes from, for example, fruit and vegetable stalls where potato's, tomatoe's and apple's are openly on sale.
"Its second is to redistribute as many as possible of these impounded apostrophes, restoring missing apostrophes where they have been lost, mislaid or deliberately hijacked - as for instance by British Rail, which as part of its refurbishment programme is dismantling the apostrophes from such stations as King's Cross and shunting them off at dead of night to a secret apostrophe siding at Crewe."
Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter and other headlines to make you smile or wince (favorites: Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge. Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges. Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead. Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half)
Which words make you wince? Michelle Pauli asks poets for their most hated words, in the Guardian. Which are yours? Read the comments!
"During the Middle Ages, everybody was middle aged. Church and state were co-operatic. Middle Evil society was made up of monks, lords, and surfs." That's an excerpt from Anders Henriksson's delightful piece in Wilson Quarterly: A History of the Past: 'Life Reeked With Joy', which the editors describe thus:
Possibly as an act of vengeance, a history professor--compiling, verbatim, several decades' worth of freshman papers--offers some of his students’ more striking insights into European history from the Middle Ages to the present.
"I do hope you realize that every time you use disinterested to mean uninterested, an angel dies, and every time you write very unique, or 'We will hire whomever is more qualified,' thousands of literate people lose yet another little smidgen of hope. And please promise me you will never lose your grip on the subjunctive to the extent that someone did in this sentence from USA Today: 'If Ramirez stayed in Cleveland, the Indians may not be seven victories shy of their first World Series title since 1948.' "
~ From Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount, Jr. (You can read the first chapter here, thanks to the New York Times First Pages series. Thanks to Wendalyn Nichols of Copyediting for this lead and for this link to a conversation with Blount on A Way With Words.
Those who are irked by spelling errors as well as those who can't spell should be interested in Everybody Wants to Be a Spelling Cop, a blog about a talk about the changing nature of language given by David Wolman, author of Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled History of English Spelling at the CASE conference. If the term "CamelCase" or "camel-capping" is unfamiliar, you might find this Wikipedia entry of interest. McNees is camel-cased. So is AstroTurf and NaCl. "Abandon hopefully all ye who enter here."
"Indian" or "Native American"? '...most of the time we use the term "Native American" to describe the first inhabitants of this continent. Sometimes, however, we use the term "Indian. " While most scholars prefer to use Native American most of the time, sometimes the term "Indian" is more appropriate. Native Americans sometimes use the term "Indian" or "American Indian" to describe themselves. We often use terms like "Indian schools" or "Indian officials" for two reasons: one, because that is the language people at the time used, both Native Americans and whites, and two, these things are also often proper names or titles, as in the case of "Holy Childhood Indian School" or the "Bureau of Indian Affairs." '
~From the useful website Native Americans
HOMOPHONES are words that sound the same but are spelled differently (e.g., "steal, steel"). HOMONYMS are words that sound and are spelled the same, but have different meanings (e.g., "right" as correct and "right" as opposite of left).
"Word has somehow got around that the split infinitive is always wrong. That is of a piece with the outworn notion that it is always wrong to strike a lady."
~ James Thurber
You can make a secure donation at PayPal to help support the cost of maintaining this site
"Grammar is a piano I play by ear."
~ Joan Didion
"Changing the world one apostrophe at a time."
~ Gary D. Shapiro
"English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education — sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across a street."
~ E.B. White
"Everything bows to success, even grammar."
~ Victor Hugo
Quick Links
E-mail Pat
About Pat McNees (host)
DYING: A Book of Comfort
Alec Baldwin: Writers' Strike is Studios' Fault (AlterNet)
Science fiction writers support Writers Guild strike
Top 100 Classic Websites (PC Magazine)
Top 100 Undiscovered Sites (PC Magazine)
101 Best Websites for Writers (Writer's Digest, 2009)
Writer's Guild hot list
Freelancer's Toolset: 100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need (Codswallop)
wikiHow (the how-to manual anyone can write or edit)
Speculations advisory about PDF files
Periodic Table of Visualization Methods
"No thanks, Mr. Nabokov," David Oshinsky's story on Knopf's rejection files
Why Are Women's Magazines So Much Dumber Than Men's? (Faking Good Breeding blogspot)
All the News That Seemed Unfit to Print, by Peter Carlson, Washington Post (a delightful account of the life and demise of the Weekly World News)
Writers on Writing archives (New York Times Book Review series), registration required but free
Resources for Writers (Midwest Book Review's long list of links)
Writers on Writing (the New York Times series)), registration required but free
Ask a reporter (NY Times reporters discuss their beats)
Internet Public Library (for when you can't find the info somewhere else)
Daylife (top news stories, up to the minute)
Front pages of newspapers from around the world (Newseum)
MediaPost(home of MediaDailyDigest)
Video Sift (finds the good YouTube links)
Liz Dubelman's VidLit "Craziest" (a must-watch for Scrabble fans--allow 8 minutes). See more examples under Marketing and Promotion
Vidlits (check out these well-told video tales, trailers for the print crowd)
Writers FM (radio by writers, for writers -- fascinating interviews!)
This American Life (great storytelling on public radio)
Watch C-SPAN2's Book tv online, weekends, or get their schedule (and much more)
Great medical websites
National Do Not Call Registry (to get telemarketers to stop calling your landlines and cell phones)
To reach a person on customer service calls
BugMeNot(bypass compulsory registration)
Saying Yes to Mess (Penelope Green, NYT, 12-21-06)
Sidebar: The Secret Order of Disorder (NY Times)
A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder, by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman
Post Secrets
Obscure Store and Reading Room
Strange News
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
The Meaning of American Pie (Don McLean's music and lyrics)
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E-mail Pat (pat at patmcnees dot com)
Writers on Writing(complete archive of the NY Times series, writers exploring literary themes. Requires free membership.)
Letters of Note (fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos--that you were never expected to see)
Aha Moments (from the brilliant Mutual of Omaha campaign to record people's stories about moments of clarity, defining moments when they gained the wisdom to change their life)
TED: Ideas worth sharing Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world
Freelance National Anthem (Bill Dyszel, 4 minutes)
KeepMeOut (addicted to a website? bookmark this page and it will remind you to get back to work!)
Today's Front Pages (check out Newseum's U.S. map -- move your cursor across the map and see the front pages change)
Online Education Database150 resources to help you write better, faster, or more persuasively
Help a reporter out (HARO)(useful for reporters and for sources)
Paris Review "Writers at Work" Interviews (selections from 1953 on, a gift to the world, and with a single click you can view a manuscript page with the writer's edits)
The Onion (if the news is making you sick, try this approach)
Truth-o-meter (St. Petersburg Times, www.politifact.com)(St. Pete Times on whether, and how much, various notable people are telling the truth)
Fact Check (Annenberg sorts political truths from half-truths)
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BASIC STYLE GUIDES
To begin with, the comma: If you are writing for magazines and newspapers, you will not use the serial comma (so it will be "apples, oranges and bananas") but if you are writing for books you will (hence "apples,oranges, and bananas"). What's the best source for this kind of information on style & usage? Here are some of the staples of the editor's desk, American style (British style being different), especially the first three:
FOR GENERAL PURPOSES:
· The Chicago Manual of Style , 16th Edition (the style Bible for books and some magazines, and there's an online edition). The Subversive Copy Editor offers a sneak peek at changes from the 15th edition.
· AP Style Guide (The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing in Media Law, for journalists -- CLICK here to read about some of the changes in the most recent edition, including spelling for "Cesarean section"
· Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner ( VERY useful)
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Also useful:
· Words into Type, 3rd Edition (how a book is put together, supplements Chicago)
· Wired Style (online style guide)
· The Careful Writer by Theodore M. Bernstein, and/or Dos, Don'ts & Maybes of English Usage
If budget allows, consider subscribing to Copyediting: Language News for the Publishing Profession
DISCIPLINE- AND SITUATION-SPECIFIC STYLE GUIDES:
· The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, 3rd edition, ed. Anne M. Coghill and Lorrin R. Garson (American Chemical Society)
· AMA Style Guide (American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 10th Edition) and now also available online, by subscription. Check out Frequently asked questions about the style guide.
· APA Style Guide (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition), used in psychology and the social sciences. (The 6th edition seems geared to needs of students, for essays, and academics, for theses, and its first printing is full of errors, so get the second printing. The 5th edition may be better suited to professional editors in book and journal publishing, report some editors.)
· Apple Style Guide (excellent free style guide for software documentation and other technical writing) pdf format
· CBE Manual, Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, Council of Biology Editors
· The COPS Office Editorial Style Manual (Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Dept. of Justice)
· A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage by Bryan Garner (essential for law students)
· The Economist Style Guide
· The Elements of Legal Style by Bryan A. Garner
· Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable Documentation for a Global Market, by John R. Kohl
· Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences, published by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics; helpful on math typography and style questions
· IEEE Computer Society Style Guide, online
· MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition, 3-09, for academic writing in English and the humanities -- no longer requires URLs for Web citations, and print is no longer primary format)
· Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, explains a convention, then lists correct and incorrect examples of it
· Numbers Guide: The Essentials of Business Numeracy by Richard Stutely
· The Oxford Style Manual (combines The Oxford Guide to Style, The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, the new Hart's Rules, and a list of 500 American words and their British equivalents)
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , but also take a look at APA the Easy Way, which reduces the anguish of dealing with the APA style manual.
· Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry, from Sun Technical Publications
· Recipes Into Type: A Handbook for Cookbook Writers and Editors
by Joan Whitman and Dolores Simon
· Turabian (as it is called) (A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers, ed. Kate L. Turabian, Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, University of Chicago Press
· Wikipedia Manual of Style
CONSIDER ALSO, FOR THE FULLER LIBRARY:
· Mathematics into Type, updated, by Ellen Swanson, Arlene O'Sean, Antoinette Schleyer (American Mathematical Society)
· Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style, by Virginia Tufte
· Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, by Joseph M. Williams (on the internal logic of effective writing)
Wendalyn Nichols of Copyediting Newsletter (the publication has made "copyediting" one word now) turns to dictionaries for people learning English to find the proper collocation for prepositions--words that "go with" other words, that co-locate in identifiable patterns. Her example: "X is a comfort to Y" is correct, and "X is a comfort for Y" is not, but sometimes what "sounds right" will be different for Brits and for Americans. The books she refers to when checking out collocators can often be found where ESL (English as a second language) is taught:
· The Cambridge Dictionary of American English
· The Longman Advanced Dictionary of American English
· The Macmillan English Dictionary
· The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
I've provided links to some style "crib sheets" to get you going while you wait for those books you ordered to come. Nothing worse than having a deadline and not knowing how to do your commas or references, and not knowing the difference between when to use "caretaker" (when you're taking care of property) and when to use "caregiver" (when you're taking care of someone who's ill).
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ONLINE STYLE GUIDES
Alan Cooper's Homonym List (except those are really "homophones")
Age Beat survey on style (phrases aging people hate) and Glossary and Tips on Usage (e.g., avoid "geezer")
AMA Style Guide (paid subscription, with user interface that could be better)
American vs. British spelling (Susan Jones)
Apple style guide (excellent style guide for technical publications, related to computers), free PDF download
AP style via FreelanceStarCompany (Associated Press, for articles)
BBC News Styleguide and Articles from BBC News Styleguide online training
British and American English (the Queen's English Society on differences in British and American spelling, grammar, and vocabulary)
British vs. American spelling (Jones)
Chicago Manual of Style Q&A (free, but not complete)
Chicago Manual of Style, online (not free; use search function to find the section you want in book version of CMS, which isn't always easy!)
Citations and References (quickie guides to various documentation styles)
• The Ultimate Resource Guides for MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE (links to key related sites and to several works-cited generators)
• Purdue/OWL Overview on Documenting Sources
• APA style resources (crib sheets) University of Minnesota crib sheet on American Psychological Association style
• APA Style on Documentation (Purdue/OWL on American Psychological Association style on citations)
• Chicago style citation quick guide
• Chicago/Turabian Style on Documentation (University of Wisconsin Writing Center)
• The End Matter: The Nightmare of Citation (Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 10-6-03)
• IEEE Computer Society Style on References
• MLA Style on References (Purdue/OWL on Modern Language Association style)
• Research and Documentation Online, Diana Hacker's guide to four styles of academic documentation: MLA style (for English and some humanities classes), APA style (American Psychological Association, for the social sciences), Chicago style, for history and other humanities classes, and CSE style (for biology and the other sciences).
Differences between British and American English (English as a second language)
Differences between various forms of English spelling (Wikipedia)
Economist style guide, with good general style guidance on, for example, Singular or Plural? (British style, but sensible)
Electronic style (George H. Hoemann, dated)
Guardian (U.K.) Style Guide
IEEE Computer Society Style Guide, online
MLA Formatting and Style Guide (OWL)
MLA style crib sheet (Abel Scribe)
National Geographical Style Manual (especially useful for place names)
Plain English handbook (Securities & Exchange Commission)
Reuters Style Guide (an A-to-Z newspaper style guide that leans toward British style but often shows both Brit and American style, as in "temblor: An American word for earthquake, not trembler")
Times (U.K.) Style and Usage Guide
Urban Dictionary (helpful with really current slang!
Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual (IGJA wiki)
Web Style Guide, 2nd ed. (Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton)
Web Editorial Style Guide (PDF file downloadable free from E-Write, prepared with examples for the Energy Information Administration)
Wikipedia Manual of Style
Writing headlines for Google and e-media, by Steffen Fjaervik, Poynter online
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WILLIAM SAFIRE'S DELIGHTFUL RULES OF WRITING
• Do not put statements in the negative form.
• And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
• If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
• Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
• Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
• De-accession euphemisms.
• If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
• Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
• Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
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Grammar and style books for regular people (who wince at the idea)
• The Grammar Devotional: Daily Tips for Successful Writing from Grammar Girl by Mignon Fogarty, author of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (British-style grammar and humor)
• Painless Grammar by Rebecca Elliott (part of a series that includes Painless Writing (Jeffrey Strausser), Painless Vocabulary (Michael Greenberg), Painless Spelling (Mary Elizabeth)--a series for junior and senior high school students
• Things That Make Us (Sic): The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar Takes on Madison Avenue, Hollywood, the White House, and the World by Martha Brockenbrough
• Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patrica T. O'Conner
• The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum ($172 to $200, for those who can take descriptive grammar straight, and can afford it), and by the same authors: A Student's Introduction to English Grammar.
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GRAMMAR AND STYLE WEBSITES, BLOGS, ARTICLES, QUIZZES, EXERCISES
ACES discussion board (American Copy Editors Society)
ACES interactive online quizzes, testing knowledge in many subject areas
After Deadline (excerpts from the weekly newsroom critique of usage errors, including overused phrases, in The New York Times)
Arnold Zwicky’s blog (for a deeper look at language)
Ask the English Teacher (Crawford Kilian, and check his excellent links)
Book Mistakes, help authors and publishers catch their mistakes, and read which mistakes appeared in print
British and American English (the Queen's English Society on differences in British and American spelling, grammar, and vocabulary)
***Capital Community College's excellent Guide to Grammar & Writing
Check Your Spelling
Conjugate an English verb (Verbix)
Copyediting's Tip of the Week (Wendalyn Nichols), a freebie even nonsubscribers can use
***Council of Science Editors’excellent links for wordsmiths
Diagramming Practice (St. Albans School)
Do you have what it takes to join the Word Police? Barbara Wallraff (requires registering with Atlantic online)
Do you make these mistakes when you write? (Copyblogger)
Elements of Style (Strunk & White) (beware banner ads) and you may want to read this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education first: 50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice by Geoffrey K. Pullum (4-17-09 issue of Chronicle Review)
Englishforums.com (learn English with online help from volunteer teachers all over the world)
Five grammatical errors that make you look dumb, by Brian Clark (Copyblogger)
Free Interactive Grammar Quizzes, Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
50 Best Blogs for Grammar Geeks (Online University Reviews)
Fuzzmail (silly fun for the typo-aware)
Games to test your knowledge (for example, try “How well can you read a world map?”)
Glamour of Grammar, Poynter Online (excellent series of pieces on various points of grammar and style, including the serial comma, left- and right-branching sentences, parallel construction--many by Roy Peter Clark)
Grammar Bytes! interactive grammar review (active learning exercises)
Grammar Girl's Quick & Dirty Tricks for Better Writing
The Grammarphobia Blog
Grammar Police
Grammar Hotline Directory (by state)
Grammar Myths (Grammarphobia site, on grammar myths: Don't split an infinitive, Don't end a sentence with a preposition, Data as a plural now always takes a plural verb, None is always singular, Don't start a sentence with "and" or "but," Don't split the parts of a verb phrase (such as "has been"), Don't use "who" when the rules call for "whom," Never use a double negative, and Use "have got" and not "have gotten."
Grammar Slammer
Grammar Theory and Practice (St. Albans School, punctuation, parts of speech, clauses, diagramming, verb tenses, practice exercises)
Guide to Grammar and Style (Jack Lynch--very handy!)
Hit Parade of Errors in Style, Grammar, and Punctuation (University of Toronto Health Sciences Writing Centre)
Index of Banned Words, the continually updated edition (Carl Zimmer, Discover, on clichés to avoid in science writing)
Interactive Grammar and Writing Quizzes (CCC)
It's okay to split infinitives (Steven Pinker, "Oaf of Office," NY Times)
Language Corner (Columbia Journalism Review blog by Merrill Perlman, former manager of copy desks for NY Times; blogs worth reading) and if you like that, check out her page on Talk to the Newsroom (a feature in the Times--and then check out talks with editors in other sections of the paper)
Language Log (popular linguistics Weblog run by University of Pennsylvania phonetician Mark Liberman, with many guest linguists)
Language Log (archives of the blogs before April 8, 2008)
Links for writers (Northwestern University)
Links to lists of grammar items for use by ESL/EFL teachers (Pat Byrd, Georgia State University)
Newsroom training (no train, no gain)
New York Times, Grammar and Usage page (a news aggregator)
Nonsexist language (U of Minnesota)
100 most commonly mispelled (oops misspelled) words in English (yourdictionary.com)
100 most often mispronounced words and phrases in English (yourdictionary.com)
Online English grammar (EduFind)
Online grammar tutorials (Englishpage.com)
Online spelling bee (Visual Thesaurus -- not easy!)
Online technical writing course (David A. McMurrey)
Grammar, punctuation, and spelling
Plainlanguage.gov
Poynteronline writing and editing tips
Pronoun Case (CliffsNotes explanation of subjective, objective, and possessive "case")
Pronunciation links (Karen's ESL Partyland)
The Tongue Untied (guide to grammar, punctuation & style for journalists--turn the pages!)
Resources for ESL students (students for whom English is a second language)
Rogue's Gallery (Queen's English Society, and guess who's featured here)
Self-study quizzes for students of ESL
Slip-ups archive (errors in books, bloopers in movies and on tv)
Spelling Bee (Visual Thesaurus, which says word aloud)
Spelling test (Mindy McAdams' test, using 50 commonly misspelled words)
Starting a sentence with a conjunction (and, but, etc.)
Style and Substance (monthly bulletin of Paul R. Martin, stylebook editor at the Wall Street Journal)
Style guide for technical writing (Ronald B. Standler)
Ten Mistakes Writers Don't See But Can Easily Fix (Holt Uncensored)
Tips on writing and editing (Poynter)
Triangle grammar guide (Pam Nelson's blog on use and misuse of language)
Triangle Grammar Guide quizzes
UsingEnglish.com (Resources for English as a Second Language), incredibly useful site
Using verbs of attribution accurately and objectively (Douglas Perret Starr, Copyediting, on when to use which variations on "he said")
The Vocabula Review (TVR, striving to combat the degradation of our language); check out listings for TVR's essay archives (for paid subscribers only)
You Don't Say John McIntyre's blog on language and the craft of editing, his new site now that he's departed the Baltimore Sun, on whose site you can still find his old entries: You Don't Say — Language and Usage Blog
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MASTERING COMMA ABUSE AND OTHER PUNCTUATION PROBLEMS
"I'm exhausted.
I spent all morning putting in a comma and all afternoon taking it out."
~ Oscar Wilde
Where punctuation matters:
A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
Apostrophe abuse (visual examples)
Apostrophe Protection Society (a U.K. site)
Association for the Abolition of the Aberrant Apostrophe. Read Richard Littlejohn's tribute to Keith Waterhouse , the legend of Fleet Street, then scroll down and read read a reprint of the classic column in which, more than 20 years ago, he launched the Association for the Abolition of the Aberrant Apostrophe.
The "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks (misinterpreting bad punctuation since 2005)
Capitalization (Colorado style)
Commas, Turning Up, Everywhere (The Onion, newsbrief)
Correct punctuation, British style
The Dreaded Apostrophe (where you can download a PDF file of this tutorial)
Gallery of Unnecessary Quotation Marks
Hyphens and compound words (U of Minnesota style guide)
It's vs. its (Gary D. Shapiro, "changing the world one apostrophe at a time")
Possessive apostrophes (Michael Quinion, World Wide Words)
Problems with Apostropes (Paul Doherty)
Punctuated Equilibrium (John McIntyre’s excellent synthesis of the most common punctuation problems)
Punctuation (OWL)
Punctuation Games
Punctuation Made Simple (Gary A. Olsen)
Punctuation Practice (Ragan, an exercise in correct punctuation)
Seven Punctuation Errors That Make You Look Stupid, Bill Walsh's Blogslot
76 Online Opportunities to Build Your Punctuation Skills (Writing Matters blog provides links to exercises and quizzes on specific punctuation practices)
Sharon Colon's Erring Apostrophe Picture Gallery (images of signs that drive the grammar police crazy: Sign's of the Time's, sausage sandwich's, tattoo's, jet ski's, entertainment at it's best, up-do's, water taxi's, and the like)
Taming the Apostrophe (Write101.com)
The Comma (Brazilian Press Association spot: "This one, Judge, is corrupt")
The Comma That Costs 1 Million Dollars (Canadian) (Ian Austen, NY Times, 10-25-06)
To comma or not to comma (OWL)
The Tongue Untied (guide to grammar, punctuation & style for journalists--turn the pages!)
From an informative Wikipedia entry on Acronym and initialism:
"...The New York Times’ guide recommends following each segment with a period when the letters are pronounced individually, as in K.G.B., but not when pronounced as a word, as in NATO. The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the punctuation scheme."
"Punctuation to the writer is like anatomy to the artist...." ~ Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, quoting Thomas J. McCormack
The Importance of Punctuation
Dear John, (version 1)
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours?
Gloria
Dear John, (version 2)
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria
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THE RIGHT (AND WRONG) WORDS — CONFUSABLES, MIXED-UP HOMONYMS AND HOMOPHONES, AND OTHER ERROR SPOTS IN DICTION
Banished words list (clichés banished for misuse, overuse, and general uselessness)
Common errors in word use (Paul Brians)
Commonly confused words (AskOxford.com)
Confusing Words (3,000 of them)
Down with Provided That (attention: lawyers)
50 of Your Favourite Words (for sesquipedalians) (BBC Magazine)
Fun with Words
Homophones (Cuesta College's excellent site)
Irregular Plurals (English Zone)
It's vs. its (Gary D. Shapiro, "changing the world one apostrophe at a time")
Language corner (Columbia Journalism Review)
Language identifiers (when you don't know which language a word comes from)
Language Log, for linguists and language buffs
Notorious Confusables (on CCC's very practical learning site)
Visual thesaurus
The Vocabula Review ($)
The Word Detective (Evan Morris answers readers' questions about words and language)
Word Traps
WordReference forums (translation)
Wordsmith.org (the magic of words)
World Wide Words (Brit Michael Quinian on international English) -- a site to linger upon (in? on?), with such features as amusing verse illustrating that English is difficult and WWW's e-magazine,which features words in the news, weird words, new(ish) words, old words, words people ask questions about, and even the occasional grovelling correction.
Writing Tools, the musical (Roy Peter Clark, Poynter)
GENERAL AND SPECIALIZED ONLINE DICTIONARIES AND DICTIONARY-STYLE REFERENCES
Do not assume that a reference work is good because it's called Webster's or Roget's. Those labels are public domain now, so anyone can use them.
* Abbreviations.com Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms, by category
Acronym Finder -— to find what an acronym, abbreviation, or initialism stands for. An acronym is a string of initial letters pronounced as a word — e.g., NATO, EPCOT. For a great explanation of the complexities of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms, look at this Wikipedia entry, at the end of which are links to more acronym databases. See also GovSpeak (a guide to U.S. government acronyms and abbreviations) and The Internet Acronym Server (a searchable database)
All That JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources (Abbreviations.com — by field)
AskOxford.com ( Compact Oxford English Dictionary, Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations), and Concise Dictionary of First Names
A-Z list of English idioms
Bartleby, reference books online, free
BBC Food Glossary
Buzzwhack (demystifying buzzwords)
Construction Dictionary
Electric Power Industry Glossary
Encyclopedia Brittanica online (paid subscription, though free to journalists, users of social media such as Twitter, etc.
Energy Acronyms (California Energy Commission)
Energy Terms and Definitions (Energy Information Administration)
Financial Dictionary and Financial Quiz
Financial terminology and other quizzes (for ESL students, about.com)
Findlaw Law Dictionary
FreeDictionary Legal Dictionary
Glossarist (very useful, searchable dictionary of glossaries and topical dictionaries, from the general to the arcane--e.g., English to Hindi food terms)
Glossary of Energy Terms (California Energy Commission)
Glossary of political economy terms (Paul M. Johnson, Auburn University)
Glossary of spiritual and religious terms
Grammars and Language Courses in many languages--great links at YourDictionary.com
Hutchinson dictionary of difficult words (from literati to verbigerative)
InternetSlang.com (Internet slang and common Web abbreviations)
Investor Words
Law.com Legal Dictionary
Lexicon of New Media Terms
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (popular dictionary for English as a Second (or Foreign) Language, ESL or EFL)
Medline-Plus Medical Dictionary
100 most commonly mispelled (oops misspelled) words in English (yourdictionary.com)
100 most often mispronounced words and phrases in English (yourdictionary.com)
Onelook Dictionary (searches several online dictionaries)
OneLook Reverse Dictionary
Online dictionaries
Online Etymology Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary (now available for both Windows and Mac, on CD-ROM), displaying both the second edition (1989) and the gradually accumulating third edition, about which, and about whether the online edition will spell the end of the print OED, be sure to read Charlotte Brewer's long essay for The Wilson Quarterly, Only Words.
The Phrase Finder (UK site--find meaning, source of colloquial and literary phrases, sayings, idioms)
Plain Language Offenders (and simple words to replace them)
The Phrase Finder (meanings and origins of 1,200 English sayings, phrases, and idioms, UK)
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, at Bartleby's
Stedman's Online Medical Dictionary
Techtionary (an “animated magazine of technical terms”)
Trademark checklist (International Trademark Association), a sample from printed list
Urban dictionary (slang terms)
The Visual Dictonary (infovisual.info) Click on arrows to change volumes (vegetal biology, animal biology, human body, music, transport, clothing).
Visual Dictionary Online (Merriam-Webster) Search within 15 themes.
**Visualizing data (fabulous site)
Visuwords (online graphical dictionary) get image maps of words
Wordnik (beta: examples, words in context, pronunciation)
World Wide Words (Michael Quinion writes on international English from a British standpoint)
World Wide Words' helpful links to other words sites
Yiddish Dictionary Online
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FOR EDITORS ONLY (OR MAINLY)
Assignment Editor (home page, with links, for newsroom)
Bechtel, The Editor's Desk (blog)
Bob Baker's Newsthinking
A Capital Idea (a newspaper copyeditor's blog)
Copy Editing Resources (American Press Institute, excellent links)
Copyediting (a newsletter and job board, pricey but good) and Tip of the Week (the free new Copyediting blog)
Grammar and Usage (New York Times) articles)
Headsup: The Blog
Language Log
Online spelling bee (Visual Thesaurus)
Organizations and resources for editors
Regret the Error reports on media corrections, retractions, apologies, clarifications and trends regarding accuracy and honesty in the press
The Slot (Bill Walsh, Washington Post)
SPOGG (The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar)
Style and Substance (monthly bulletin of Paul R. Martin, stylebook editor at the Wall Street Journal)
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Owed to My Spell Checker
I have a spelling checker.
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.
Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed to bee a joule
The checker poured o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Be fore a veiling checkers
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if were lacks or have a laps,
We wood be maid to wine.
Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know faults within my cite,
Of none eye am a wear.
Now spelling does knot phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped words fare as hear.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud.
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaws are knot aloud.
Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays
Such soft ware for pea seas,
And why I brake in two averse
When righting what eye pleas.
(Author Unknown)
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A GREAT READ
Books for book clubs
Best reads and most "discussable"
Great search links
Fact-finding, fact-checking, and news and info resources
BOOK AND MAGAZINE PUBLISHING
Acquiring, swapping, or selling books
New and used books, Amazon.com and elsewhere
Communicating and marketing online (Web 2.0)
Blogs, social media, podcasts, ezines, survey tools and online games
Marketing, publicity, promotion
Blogs, video promotion, intelligent radio programs
Self-publishing and print on demand (POD)
Indie publishing, digital publishing, POD, how-to articles
So, You Want to Write a Book!
Includes original text by Sarah Wernick
WRITERS AND CREATORS
Awards, grants, fellowships
Plus contests and other sources of funding
Corporate and technical communications
Copywriting, speechwriting, marketing, training, and the like
Fiction writing
Literary and commercial (including genre)
Mastering art and craft
Writing, reporting, multimedia, equipment, software
Media pros and other allied professionals
Translators, indexers, designers, photographers, artists, illustrators, animators, cartoonists, image professionals, composers
Specialty and niche writing
Groups for writers who specialize in animals, children's books, food, gardens, family history, resumes, sports, travel, Webwriting, and wine (etc.)
ETHICS, RIGHTS, AND OTHER ISSUES
EDITORS AND EDITING
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