
Some editor peeves for 2023
I think I speak for a lot of editors when I say: Bad grammar doesn't bother us as much as you'd think. Everyone makes grammar mistakes. Instead, we have our own unique peeves, many of them based on the errors professional writers make over and over and over. Here are a few of mine.
Quotations that haven’t been set up properly. “‘They are the finest educators in the country,’ said John Doe, president of the education association, speaking of Barb Taylor’s team.” If you have to add “speaking of,” “referring to” or something like that in a speech tag, you’re doing it wrong. In this example, which I adapted from a real article, the reader has to slog through almost 20 words to learn the meaning of the first word, “they.” Fix this by talking about Barb Taylor’s team before you quote John Doe.
Ampersands on auto pilot. “We’ll serve beer and wine, gin & tonic and rum & Coke.” Some people think ampersands show closer connections than the word “and” can show. So “beer and wine” can be connected with “and,” but for the inseparable pair “gin & tonic,” only an ampersand will do. This makes good sense except for one tiny detail: There’s no such rule. In running text, just use “and.”
For every organization, a force-fed abbreviation. Lots of writers believe that readers need to be taught the initials of every organization immediately after its full name: The National Assn. for Abbreviation Obsessives and Similarly Afflicted Individuals (NAAOSAI). Sometimes they’re training readers in how to read the rest of the article: “Memorize this abbreviation now if you want to understand what I’m saying from here on!” Rude. Other times, the abbreviation never appears again. The writer is just saying: “Stop what you’re doing and note that this organization has initials.” Rude and pointless. The Associated Press Stylebook agrees with me: “Avoid alphabet soup,” the guide says. “Do not use abbreviations or acronyms that the reader would not quickly recognize.” Instead use words the reader knows: the association, the group, the club or, if all else fails, its full name.
Needless words. I recently edited an article that started a sentence with “But what’s possibly most important to acknowledge is that …” This type of wordiness is a big problem if you want your readers to remain conscious. This phrase should be chopped out entirely, or at least pared down to “perhaps most important.” Always look for opportunities to streamline your sentences. Instead of saying the company “is committed to providing” quality care, say the company provides it. Instead of saying the organization’s leaders “make a point to” invest in their local community, just say they invest in their community. Instead of saying an adviser “serves to” guide students, just say she guides them. Instead of saying that patients experience “symptoms such as” headache and fever, just say they experience headache and fever. Instead of saying, along with “a host of partners like” the Humane Society, the ASPCA and others, just say along with the Humane Society, the ASPCA and others. Instead of saying the school superintendent “was pondering the idea of finding” a way to shelter homeless students, just say she was looking for a way. Instead of saying that the common cold and flu viruses “gain entry into” the body, just say they enter the body. Instead of saying “start by separating three eggs,” just say “separate three eggs.” These real-world examples all show how, by cutting out needless words, you can hold your readers attention while saving them a lot of time.
Tags: AMPERSANDS, COPY EDITING, GRAMMAR, NEEDLESS WORDS, QUOTATIONS
This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2023 at 4:38 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


- #AMWRITING
- #SpellCheckCannotSaveYou
- A AAA VS. AN AAA
- A HISTORIC VS AN HISTORIC
- A WHILE VS. AWHILE
- ABBREVIATIONS
- Acronym
- ACRONYM VS ABBREVIATION
- Acronym vs Initialism
- ACTION VERBS
- ACTIVE VERBS
- ACTIVE VOICE
- ACTUALLY
- ADJECTIVES
- ADRENALINE VS ADRENALIN
- ADVERBIAL
- ADVERBS
- ADVERBS VS. ADJECTIVES
- ADVERBS VS. ADVERBIALS
- ADVERSE AND AVERSE
- ADVERSE VS AVERSE
- ADVISOR vs. ADVISER
- AESTHETIC AND ESTHETIC
- AFFECT AND EFFECT
- AFFECT VS EFFECT
- AGGRAVATE AND IRRITATE
- AGGRAVATE VS IRRITATE
- AGREEMENT
- AI
- ALONG WITH
- ALRIGHT ALL RIGHT
- AMN'T
- AMONG
- AMPERSAND
- AMPERSANDS
- an historic
- AND
- AND I VS AND ME
- ANTONYMS
- anxious vs eager
- ANYMORE ANY MORE
- ANYMORE VS ANY MORE
- AP STYLE
- apostrophe
- apostrophe abuse
- APOSTROPHE IN LETTER GRADES
- Apostrophe in Mothers Day
- Apostrophe in Presidents Day
- APOSTROPHE IN SEASON'S GREETINGS
- Apostrophe in Veterans Day
- APOSTROPHE PROTECTION SOCIETY
- APOSTROPHE VS SINGLE QUOTATION MARK
- APOSTROPHES
- apostrophes for form plurals
- APOSTROPHES IN PLURALS
- APPEARANCE SAKE
- APPOSITIVE
- AREN'T I
- AS WELL AS
- ASPECT
- ATONEMENT
- ATTRIBUTIVE NOUN
- ATTRIBUTIVE NOUNS
- AUXILIARY VERB
- AUXILIARY VERBS
- AVOID ADVERBS
- AWAKE
- AWHILE VS. A WHILE
- BAD ADVICE
- BAITED BREATH
- BARBECUE BARBEQUE
- BEACH GOER OR BEACHGOER
- beg the question
- beginning a sentence with and
- beginning a sentence with but
- BEGINNING SENTENCE WITH AND
- BEGINNING SENTENCE WITH CONJUNCTION
- BEGINNING SENTENCE WITH PRONOUN
- ben zimmer
- BENJAMIN DREYER
- BETWEEN
- BETWEEN SENTENCES
- BETWEEN YOU AND I
- BETWEEN YOU AND ME
- BIG WORDS
- bimonthly
- biweekly
- BOOK TITLES
- BOOK TITLES IN ITALICS
- BOOK TITLES IN QUOTATION MARKS
- BORED BY OR BORED OF OR BORED WITH
- BOTH
- BRING AND TAKE
- Bristol Punctuation Vigilante
- BRYAN GARNER
- BULLETED LISTS
- BURIED VERB
- CACHE
- CACHET
- CACTUSES OR CACTI
- CAN
- CAN VS MAY
- CANNABUSINESS
- CAPITAL LETTER AFTER A COLON
- capitalization
- CAPITALIZE CITY NAMES
- CAPITALIZE DISHES
- CAPITALIZE MENU ITEMS
- CHAISE LONGUE
- CHANUKAH
- CHICAGO AP STYLE DIFFERENCES
- CHOMPING AT THE BIT
- CHOOSING SPECIFIC NOUNS AND VERBS
- CITE and SIGHT
- CLARITY
- CLATFART
- CLICHES
- CLITIC
- COLLECTIVE NOUNS
- COLON
- COLON VS. SEMICOLON
- Colons
- comma
- COMMA AFTER INC
- COMMA AFTER STATE
- COMMA AFTER YEAR
- COMMA BEFORE A TITLE
- COMMA BEFORE TOO
- COMMA IN IS IS
- COMMA SPLICE
- COMMAS
- commas around inc.
- COMMAS BETWEEN ADJECTIVES
- commas between coordinate adjectives
- COMMAS INSIDE QUOTATION MARKS
- COMMAS TO SET OFF INFORMATION
- COMMON SPELLING ERRORS
- COMMONLY CONFUSED EXPRESSIONS
- COMMONLY CONFUSED VERBS
- COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS
- COMPARATIVE
- COMPARATIVES
- comparatives and superlatives
- COMPARE TO VS COMPARE WITH
- COMPARED TO COMPARED WITH
- COMPLIMENT AND COMPLEMENT
- COMPLIMENT VS. COMPLEMENT
- COMPOSE AND COMPRISE
- compound adjectives
- COMPOUND MODIFIER
- compound modifiers
- COMPOUND NOUN
- CONCISE WRITING
- conjunctions
- CONJUNCTIVE LIKE
- CONTINUAL AND CONTINUOUS
- COORDINATE ADJECTIVES
- COORDINATION
- COPULAR VERBS
- copy editin
- COPY EDITING
- CORONAVIRUS SLANG
- COULD CARE LESS VS COULDN'T CARE LESS
- COULD OF and COULD HAVE
- COUPLE IS OR COUPLE ARE
- COUPLE IS VS. COUPLE ARE
- COURTESY TITLES
- COVIDIOT
- CRINGE AS AN ADJECTIVE
- DANGLER
- danglers
- DANGLING MODIFIER
- DANGLING PARTICIPLE
- dash
- DASH VS HYPHEN
- DASH VS SEMICOLON
- DASH VS. COLON
- DASHES
- decimate
- decimate usage
- DECLARATIVE
- DECLARATIVE QUESTION
- DEFINITE ARTICLE
- DICTIONARIES
- DIFFERENT FROM VS DIFFERENT THAN
- DIFFERENT SPELLINGS FOR SAME WORD
- DIRECT OBJECTS
- DISINTERESTED UNINTERESTED
- DISJUNCTS CONJUNCTS ADJUNCTS
- DISSATISFIED VS. UNSATISFIED
- DO'S AND DON'TS
- done vs finished
- DOS AND DONTS
- DOUBLE NEGATIVE
- DOUBLE POSSESSIVE
- DOUBLE SPACE AFTER A PERIOD
- DOUBLE SPACING
- DREAMED VS DREAMT
- DUMMY OPERATOR
- EASILY CONFUSED WORDS
- ECONOMY OF WORDS
- EDITING
- EDITING NOTES
- EDITING YOUR OWN WRITING
- EFFECTIVE WRITING
- EFFETE
- EGGCORN
- EITHER
- ellipses
- ELLIPSIS
- EM DASH VS EN DASH
- EM DASHES
- EMAIL E-MAIL
- EMAIL GREETINGS
- EMIGRATE AND IMMIGRATE
- EN DASH
- EN DASH VS EM DASH
- ENGLISH
- enormity
- ENSURE INSURE
- ETYMOLOGY
- EVACUATE
- EVERY DAY VS. EVERYDAY
- EXCLAMATION POINT
- EXCLAMATION POINTS
- EXISTENTIAL THERE
- FALSE RANGES
- FARTHER
- father's day
- faulty parallel
- FAULTY SENTENCE STRUCTURE
- FAZE and PHASE
- FIRSTLY
- FIVE BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES
- FLAT ADVERBS
- FLESH OUT AND FLUSH OUT
- FLUSH OUT VS. FLESH OUT
- FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE
- FOR GOODNESS SAKE
- FORGO AND FORGO
- FORGO FOREGO
- FORGONE FOREGONE
- FORM TYPES OF VERBS
- FORWENT FOREWENT
- FRAUGHT VS FRAUGHT WITH
- FRIEND OF
- FURTHER
- Fused Participle
- GAUNTLET GANTLET
- GENERIC PRONOUN ONE
- GET
- GOER
- GOOD AND WELL
- GOOD SENTENCES
- GOOD VS WELL
- GOODNESS SAKE
- GOT VS. HAVE
- GOT VS. HAVE GOT
- GRADUATE COLLEGE OR GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE
- GRAMM
- GRAMMAR
- GRAMMAR CHECKER
- GRAMMAR MYTH
- grammar peeves
- grammar phobia
- GRAMMAR TERMS
- GRAMMATICAL MOOD
- GRAY VS GREY
- GREAT AND WELL
- GREATLY
- GREETING
- GROGNARD
- HANGED VS HUNG
- HANUKKAH
- HARSH WRITING ADVICE
- HAVE GOT
- HAVE GOT VS HAVE
- HE OR HIM
- HEADQUARTER AS A VERB
- HEADQUARTERED
- HEALTH CARE HYPHENATED
- HEALTHCARE VS HEALTH CARE
- HEALTHFUL
- HEALTHY
- HELTER SKELTER
- HERE'S BEFORE A PLURAL
- HERE'S VS HERE ARE
- HISTORIC VS HISTORICAL
- HOI POLLOI
- HOME IN VS HONE IN
- HOMO SAPIEN VS. HOMO SAPIENS
- HOMONYMS
- HOMOPHONES AND HOMOGRAPHS
- HOPEFULLY
- HOW TO PRONOUNCE KYIV
- HOW TO PUNCTUATE CHRISTMAS CARDS
- HOW TO WRITE
- HOW TO WRITE BOOK TITLES
- how to write holidays
- HOW TO WRITE MOVIE TITLES
- Human writers
- HYPHEN
- HYPHEN WITH MAKER
- HYPHENATING NOUNS
- HYPHENATING PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
- HYPHENATING SUFFIXES
- HYPHENATING VERBS
- hyphenation
- hyphens
- I FEEL BAD VS I FEEL BADLY
- I FEEL BADLY
- I vs Me
- I-N-G VERBS
- IAN MCEWAN
- IDIOMS
- if and whether
- IF VS WHETHER
- immigrate emigrate migrate
- IMPERATIVE
- imperatives
- IMPORTANTLY
- IN REGARDS TO
- INCOMPLETE SENTENCES
- INDEFINITE ARTICLES
- INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
- INDEXES INDICES
- INDIRECT OBJECT
- INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN
- insure vs ensure
- INTENSIFIER
- INTERROGATIVE
- INTO VS IN TO
- INTRANSITIVE VERBS
- INTRODUCTORY PHRASE
- INTRUSIVE OF
- IRREGARDLESS
- IRREGARDLESS AND REGARDLESS
- IRREGULAR NOUNS
- IS IS
- IS TEAM PLURAL OR SINGULAR
- IT IS I WHO AM VS IT IS I WHO ARE
- IT'S VS ITS
- ITALICS
- ITALICS VS. QUOTATION MARKS
- ITS AND IT'S
- ITS VS IT'S
- JACOB REES-MOGG
- JARGON
- JOB TITLES
- john dowd
- John Le Carre
- JOHN MCINTYRE
- JONATHON OWEN
- Journalism Standards
- JUDGEMENT VS JUDGMENT
- KORY STAMPER
- LANGUAGE
- LAY AND LIE
- LAY IN STATE
- LEAD VS. LED
- LESS THAN
- less vs fewer
- LET'S AND LETS
- LET'S EAT GRANDMA
- LET'S VS. LETS
- LEXICOGRAPHY
- LIE IN STATE
- lighted vs lit
- LIGHTED VS. LIT
- LIKE
- LIKE AND AS
- LIKE AND SUCH AS
- LINKING VERBS
- LITERALLY
- LOAN VS LEND
- LOG IN VS LOGIN
- LONG SENTENCES
- LOWERCASE AFTER A COLON
- LY ADVERBS
- MAIN CLAUSES
- MAJORITY
- MAKING
- MANAFORT
- MANIKIN MANNEQUIN
- MANNER ADVERBS
- MARY NORRIS
- MAY VS. MIGHT
- ME VS I
- MERRIAM
- METACONCEPTS
- MIKE POMPEO
- MISCHIEVOUS VS. MISCHIEVIOUS
- MISLEADING CONNECTIVES
- MODAL AUXILIARIES
- MODAL AUXILIARY
- MODALITY
- modifying phrases
- MOOD
- MORE CLEAR VS CLEARER
- MORE THAN
- MOST COMMON APOSTROPHE ERRORS
- MOST COMMON GRAMMAR ERRORS
- Most common grammar mistakes
- mother's day
- MOVIE TITLES
- MUST
- MYRIAD VS A MYRIAD OF
- MYRIAD VS. MYRIAD OF
- MYSELF
- MYSELF VS. ME
- NAMES
- NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY
- NEEDLESS WORDS
- Neil Gaiman
- NEITHER
- NEOLOGISMS
- NEVER MIND / NEVERMIND
- NEW WORDS
- NEW YEAR'S
- no problem
- NOMINALIZATION
- NOMINALIZATIONS
- NONBINARY THEY
- NONCE WORD
- NONE IS VS NONE ARE
- NONPLUSSED
- NONRESTRICTIVE CLAUSES
- NOUNS AS ADJECTIVES
- NOUNS ENDING IN S
- object complement
- OBJECT PRONOUN
- OBJECT PRONOUNS
- OBJECT VS SUBJECT PRONOUNS
- OBJECTS AND SUBJECTS
- obscenity
- OCTOPUSES OR OCTOPI
- OED
- OK OKAY
- OLDER OF TWO VS OLDEST OF TWO
- OLIVER TWIST
- OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS
- ONE
- ONE SPACE
- ONE SPACE AFTER A PERIOD
- ONE SPACE OR TWO BETWEEN SENTENCES
- ONLY
- ONTO VS ON TO
- OR
- OVER
- OVER AND UNDER
- oxford comma
- OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
- PALATE VS PALETTE
- PALETTE PALATE PALLET
- PALETTE VS. PALLET
- PALM OFF VS PAWN OFF
- PALM OFF VS. PAWN OFF
- PARALLEL STRUCTURE
- PARENTHESES
- PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
- PARTS OF SPEECH
- PASSIVE VOICE
- past participles
- past tense
- PAST TENSE OF LAY
- PAST TENSE OF LIGHT
- PAST TENSE OF SLAY
- period before a quotation mark
- PERIODS IN INITIALS
- PERIODS IN PHD
- PERIODS INSIDE QUOTATION MARKS
- PERSONAL PRONOUNS
- PERUSE
- PETER SOKOLOWSKI
- PHRASAL VERBS
- PIQUE
- PIRATE TALK
- placement of only
- plead pled
- PLURAL
- PLURAL OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL
- PLURAL POSSESSIVE
- PLURAL POSSESSIVES
- PLURAL POSSESSIVES OF PROPER NOUNS
- PLURAL VERB
- PLURAL VERB WITH AS WELL AS
- PLURAL VERBS
- PLURALS
- PLURALS OF LATIN WORDS
- PLURALS OF LETTERS
- PLURALS OF MOVIE TITLES
- POSSESSIVE
- Possessive with Gerund
- possessives
- POSSESSIVES OF MOVIE TITLES
- POSSESSIVES OF PROPER NAMES
- PREDICATE NOMINATIVE
- prefixes
- PREPOSI
- PREPOSITIONS
- PRESCRIPTIVISM
- PREVENTATIVE
- PREVENTIVE
- PRINCIPAL AND PRINCIPLE
- PRINCIPLE and PRINCIPAL
- profanity
- PRONONCIATION
- PRONOUN ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
- PRONOUNS
- PRONOUNS INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
- pronunciation of often
- proofreading
- PUNCTUATION
- PUT A COMMA BEFORE TOO
- QUASI COORDINATOR
- QUASI POSSESSIVES
- QUESTION MARK
- quotation marks
- QUOTATIONS
- raise the question
- RANG RUNG
- RANGES
- READER FRIENDLY LANGUAGE
- REDUPLICATIVE COPULA
- REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
- REFLEXIVES
- REIGN VS REIN
- REIN vs REIGN
- RELATIVE PRONOUN ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
- RELATIVE PRONOUNS
- RESTRICTIVE CLAUSES
- ROB AND BURGLARIZE
- ROCK N ROLL
- RUN-ON SENTENCES
- RUTH BADER GINSBURG
- SCARE QUOTES
- SECONDLY
- SEMICOLON
- SEMICOLON ABUSE
- SEMICOLONS
- semimonthly
- semiweekly
- SENTENCE ADVERBS
- sentence diagramming
- SENTENCE ENDING PREPOSITION
- SENTENCE ENDING PREPOSITIONS
- SENTENCE FRAGMENT
- SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
- SENTENCE STRUCTURE
- SENTENCE STRUCTURES
- SENTENCE WRITING
- SENTENCES
- serial comma
- SHARED POSSESSIVE
- SHARED POSSESSIVES
- SHORT SENTENCES
- SHOULD
- SIMPLE COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES
- SINCE VS BECAUSE
- SINCE VS. BECAUSE
- SINGLE QUOTATION MARK
- SINGULAR AUSPICE
- SINGULAR VERB
- SINGULAR VERB WITH EVERY
- SINGULAR VS PLURAL
- SITE
- SKUNKED TERMS
- SLAVA UKRAINI
- SLEIGHT VS SLIGHT
- SLOW VS. SLOWLY
- SMIZE
- SNEAK PEAK VS SNEAK PEEK
- SNEAK VS. SNUCK VS. SNEAKED
- SO
- SO CRINGE
- SOMEONE
- SPACE AROUND DASHES
- spaces around ellipses
- SPACES BEFORE AN ELLIPSIS
- SPACING BETWEEN SENTENCES
- SPEECH TAGS
- spell check fail
- SPELL-CHECKER
- SPELLING
- SPITTING IMAGE
- split infinitive
- SQUINTING MODIFIER
- STARTING A SENTENCE WITH AND
- STEPHEN CALK
- STYLE
- STYLE GUIDES
- SUBJECT PRONOUNS
- SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
- SUBJECT-COMPLEMENT AGREEMENT
- SUBJECT-OBJECT AGREEMENT
- SUBJUNCTIVE
- SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
- SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
- suffixes
- SUPERLATIVES AND COMPARATIVES
- SWAM VS. SWUM
- SYNONYMS
- TENSE SHIFTS
- terminal punctuation
- THAN I VS THAN ME
- THANKSGIVING DAY
- THAT AND WHICH
- THAT VS. WHICH
- THE JOY OF SYNTAX
- The Possessive of Jr.
- THE REASON IS BECAUSE
- THE REASON WHY
- THE REASON WHY VS. THE REASON THAT
- THE TEAM IS VS THE TEAM ARE
- THE WIRE
- THERE ARE
- THERE IS
- THERE'S
- THERE'S VS. THEIRS
- THESE ONES
- THEY'RE AND THEIR
- THIS IS HER
- THIS IS SHE
- THRU THROUGH
- TILL TIL UNTIL
- TITLED VS ENTITLED
- TITLES
- TITLES IN ITALICS
- TITLES IN QUOTATION MARKS
- TO BOLDLY GO
- TOO BIG A DEAL
- TOO BIG OF A DEAL
- TOWARD VS. TOWARDS
- TRANSITIVE
- TRANSITIVE VERBS
- TRANSITIVE VS. INTRANSITIVE VERBS
- TRUMP SPELLING
- TRUMP TWEET
- TRY AND
- TRY TO
- TWO SPACE
- TYPOS
- UNCLEAR ANTECEDENTS
- UNDERLIE PAST TENSE
- UNDERWAY / UNDER WAY
- UNNECESSARY ADVERBS
- UPSIDE DOWN SUBORDINATION
- USAGE
- VAGUE WORDS
- VARIANT SPELLINGS
- VERB AGREEMENT
- VERB CONJUGATION
- VERB TENSES
- VERBS
- veterans day
- VIS-A-VIS
- vocabulary
- WAS VS WERE
- WAVER VS. WAIVER
- WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD
- WEIRDEST LANGUAGES
- WELLBEING
- WERE VS WAS
- What Does Hoi Pollio Mean
- WHAT'S AN APPOSITIVE
- When to Capitalize After a Colon
- WHEN TO HYPHENATE PREFIXES
- WHILE VS ALTHOUGH
- WHO AND WHOM
- WHO KNOWS
- who vs whom
- WHOA WOAH WHOAH
- whom
- whomever
- WHOSE AND WHO'S
- WHOSE VS WHO'S
- WHOSE VS. WHO'S
- WITH VS. OF
- WOKE VS WAKED
- WORD CHOICE
- WORD USAGE
- WORDINESS
- WORSE COMES TO WORST VS WORST COMES TO WORST
- WRITING
- WRITING BOOKS
- WRITING CRAFT
- WRITING FOR CLARITY
- WRITING SKILLS
- WRITING STYLE
- WRITING TIPS
- WRONG VS. WRONGLY
- XMAS
- ZEGUMA
- ZERO RELATIVE PRONOUN
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