When proofreaders go missing: a blog of errors, designed to demonstrate why sub-editors and copy editors remain important, at a time when they are increasingly regarded as optional extras (all contributions welcome; to follow on Twitter - zmkc)
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Sydney Morning Herald, 15th December, 2010
This explains a lot:
but I don't think it's an excuse for not putting 'an' before '$11 million':
Yes, 'an' - you really have a sharp eye. Do you read aloud to yourself? I find it helps a lot with mistakes such as that one; though our office has to be kept very quite, so I'm constantly to be seen mouthing sentences of English in my corner like some nutter.
Something like that just jumps out at you though, don't you think? That's why I object to those kinds of mistakes - because they make you stumble in the middle of reading, they break the flow.
Hm, I think it's just those sort of mistakes that don't jump out at me - because 'a' and 'an' mean the same thing. In the need to push on, my brain can, perhaps unfortunately, gloss over the spelling error.
It depends on your style guide - it might stipulate that you don't put any stops in US, which would solve things for you. Aren't comments just talking, so you can do what you like with punctuation et cetera in them? When you're asking for money for a newspaper, it's another matter altogether - especially when it's my money.
Yes, 'an' - you really have a sharp eye. Do you read aloud to yourself? I find it helps a lot with mistakes such as that one; though our office has to be kept very quite, so I'm constantly to be seen mouthing sentences of English in my corner like some nutter.
ReplyDeleteSomething like that just jumps out at you though, don't you think? That's why I object to those kinds of mistakes - because they make you stumble in the middle of reading, they break the flow.
ReplyDeleteHm, I think it's just those sort of mistakes that don't jump out at me - because 'a' and 'an' mean the same thing. In the need to push on, my brain can, perhaps unfortunately, gloss over the spelling error.
ReplyDeleteHi. Can you help me with this one? A sentence ending in an abbreviation, say "U.S.". Should it be "U.S.." or "U.S."?
ReplyDeleteAnd I've just realised that should've been a semi-colon, not a full stop. Also I started a sentence with 'And'. And 'Also'. Damnit.
ReplyDeleteDamn it.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on your style guide - it might stipulate that you don't put any stops in US, which would solve things for you. Aren't comments just talking, so you can do what you like with punctuation et cetera in them? When you're asking for money for a newspaper, it's another matter altogether - especially when it's my money.
ReplyDeleteGadjo - you're also jumping from language to language, which makes you brilliant anyway.
ReplyDelete