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Picture of arnie
posted
Eric Meyer, a web design writer, has proposed a sort of plugin for sites where readers could report typos and other errors. See http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoug...ditorial-the-plugin/.

That strikes me a potentially dangerous knowing the penchant of some prescriptivists to complain about the most ridiculous constructions. What think ye?


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
 
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<Proofreader>
posted
quote:
That strikes me a potentially dangerous knowing the penchant of some prescriptivists to complain about the most ridiculous constructions. What think ye?


I just posted this:

Let’s start here:

“hey, I spotted this error, now you know so you can fix it”

Needs to start with cap “h”, then period (not comma) Cap “n” to stop run-on sentence.
 
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Picture of BobHale
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Might as well nail up a "Trolls Welcome" sign.


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
 
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Picture of Kalleh
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I find it arrogant and would likely point out those non-errors (such as ending sentences with a preposition) that we talk about all the time. What a waste of time.
 
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Picture of bethree5
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>doh brother< even worse than spell-check
 
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<Proofreader>
posted
People shouldn't complain about others tilo their own house is in order.
 
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Picture of Kalleh
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Isn't it the truth, Proof? The prescriptive editor I deal with is the one who says "amendable" instead of "amenable." It's a little bit of epicaricacy on my part that I've never pointed that out. Wink
 
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Picture of arnie
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Muphry's law is bound to come in.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
 
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<Proofreader>
posted
Many years ago I wrote to Steve Allen, the comedian, about his book Dumbth, since the title page, copyright, blurb, and front title all had different renderings of the actual title. Needless to say, he failed to acknowledge the error. Perhaps because the subtitle was "81 Ways to Make Americans Smarter." The 82nd would have been to hire a proofreader.
 
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<Proofreader>
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On the news today, one of the candidates for governor of Virginia (an ordained minister) has written a book. One of the words in its title is "Commandment" but it is misspelled "Comandment" on the front cover in huge letters. It's correct on the back cover.
 
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Picture of BobHale
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Though shallt not publish without proofreading?


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
 
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Picture of Kalleh
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quote:
The 82nd would have been to hire a proofreader.
Which brings me to the question, Proof...how why have you chosen Proofreader for your name? You've probably mentioned it before, but I've just forgotten.

BTW, I love Muphry's Law, arnie, and I am going to use it! Just today I was talking to our prescriptive editor who was criticizing her colleague for being too prescriptive when editing her writing. Being politically correct, I said not a word - but boy was I thinking epicaricacy-like!
 
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Picture of arnie
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I'm having fun at work at the moment being ultra-prescriptive. The head of our agency is sending out a series of individual letters to stakeholders that he is personally signing. He's let it be known that he doesn't want to find any 'grammatical mistakes' in them. I've been asked to proofread them before they are given to him for signing, and I can usually find something to criticise changes to suggest.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
 
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<Proofreader>
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I did proofing as one aspect of my printing career. No idea why it came to mind as a pseudonym.
 
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Picture of Kalleh
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quote:
I can usually find something to criticise changes to suggest.
Yes, I imagine everyone here could find something wrong with just about any sentence. Wink

Here was my fortune in a fortune cookie today: "Your good ideas will capture you to fame." Shu thinks they meant "catapult."
 
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<Proofreader>
posted
Slightly off point but I hope in keeping with the title, on the same day two different people asked me the same question (in different circumstances) and I thought of this way to answer, if I had he nerve.

Do you think just a skirt makes you fat?
I believe it would take more than that.
If you added some weight,
I am sure you'd look great.
But, for now, you are bony and flat.
 
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Picture of Kalleh
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I am glad you didn't have the nerve. Wink [Speaking of which, I've never really thought that phrase "having nerve" or "getting on my nerves" made much sense, physiologically speaking.]
 
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