It's not even December and I've already lost Whamageddon...

Only a few days left to apply for @ACESediting scholarships! If you are – or you know – students who are interested in editing, check it out! aceseditors.org/awards/schol...

Another reason not to believe the hype: Four common AI tools misrepresent news content almost half the time. www.dw.com/en/artificia...

As a linguist, an interesting phenomenon I’ve noticed is a flurry of new coinages based on the new meaning of “slop” – unwanted, usually low-quality, AI-generated content.

A common guideline for professional AI use that I’ve seen is “Human first, human last.” That last human? It should be an editor.

I do love semicolons; I know not everyone does. www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...

Excited to see the @grammartable.bsky.social movie in a theater, with people!

A new study, based on a survey of 1,150 workers suggests that the injection of AI tools into the workplace has not resulted in a magic productivity boom and instead increased the amount of time that workers say they spend fixing low-quality AI-generated “work.” 🔗 www.404media.co/ai-workslop-...

I was moving my "bad examples" file and this one fell out. Channel your inner Beavis, headline writers!

"This isn’t a question about whether AI will continue shaping how we speak — because it will — but whether we’ll actively choose to preserve space for the verbal quirks and emotional messiness that make communication recognizably, irreplaceably human." @theverge.com www.theverge.com/openai/68674...

This thread on AI-generated writing feedback is worth a read:

I'd like to think they did this on purpose to get clicks, but I'd bet it was automated with no human in the loop. 🤦‍♀️

Having a much-needed clear-out in my office and I ran across a college notebook (don't judge) that included notes from a class on the modern Russian novel. Friends, I read NINE WHOLE novels that semester in one class, including a doorstop by Solzhenitsyn.

The semicolon is having a moment – and getting some love! www.rd.com/article/punc...

Is a language being used? Then it's changing. Grammar rules and guidelines change too, whether we like it or not. www.rd.com/list/grammar...

Let's not write the obituary for the semicolon just yet.

"Remember: having a strong opinion about something isn’t the same as knowing something." —Tom Nichols, “The Death of Expertise”

"AI development begins to resemble a maximalist game of telephone in which not only is the quality of the content being produced diminished, resembling less and less what it's originally supposed to be replacing, but in which the participants actively become stupider."

TIL (thanks to @mikecaulfield.bsky.social) that a phenomenon many of us in journalism have long observed has a name: Brandolini's Law, which states that "The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandol...

I was preparing a presentation this morning; one of the phrases in it was “not to put too fine a point on it,” and a Certain Song has been stuck in my head all day. You’re welcome. #IYKYK

Ouch! (Thanks, Michael!) #SpellCheckCannotSaveYou

Count me in Team Semicolon. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

I'm taking a screenshot for the next time I talk about hyphens! (This reminds me of all the great #whyhyphensmatter posts by @madamgrammar.bsky.social on Twitter in days of yore.)

Journalists: Honor a mentor who has made a difference in your life.

Check out this interesting interview with @karenyin.bsky.social about her Conscious Style Guide, an essential resource for communicators. ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/2025/05/01/w...

Happy Star Wars Day to all who celebrate!

What could possibly go wrong? 🤦‍♀️

Dying = leaving a state of life Dyeing = making something a different color #SpellCheckCannotSaveYou

"The most powerful response to attacks on our integrity is truth. ... Journalism is still a noble profession." --Lester Holt, receiving the 2025 William Allen White Citation

persimmon --> permission #AmEditing #AutocorrectStrikesAgain

No bombshells from @apstylebook.com at #ACES2025, but a great discussion with some of the current stylebook editors about entries and standards.

Home, home on the range

I do appreciate a good punny business name

Getting excited about #ACES2025 next week! So much to learn, so many friends to see, so much word-nerdiness!

On this #NationalGrammarDay, help support the next generation of grammar aficionados with a Grammar Day donation to the ACES Education Fund: copydesk.networkforgood.com

The first-place winner of the ACES National Grammar Day Poetry Contest: Salma Amanda Latifa for "Language in Order" about structural elements of English — which is not her first language. Meet the poet and read her poem and the runners up. tinyurl.com/bvbrv3t4 #GrammarDay @grammargirl.bsky.social

It's a great day for grammar! March forth for language! #NationalGrammarDay

Not sure about that one in the middle...

I just had to laugh when I saw this headline. So typical – create a problem and then be surprised when it comes back to bite YOU. (And FYI, @404media.co is doing great work on tech and its intersection with government – worth a subscription.)

rein = straps used to control a horse reign = rule or authority of a monarch It's "free rein" and "take the reins," but "reigns supreme." Trick to remember: a kinG reiGns; both have a G #SpellCheckCannotSaveYou

Ingenious --> Indigenous #AutocorrectStrikesAgain #AlwaysProofread

#LanguageHumor #StuffEditorsLike

discrete = separate, delineated discreet = understated, discerning, circumspect The one you want when you're talking about keeping a secret is "discreet." #SpellCheckCannotSaveYou

Teachers don't tend to get apples anymore, but one of my freshers drew one on today's in-class writing ❤️

Happy #KansasDay to all who celebrate! 🌻🌪️🏀

Just booked my flight to #ACES2025! Already excited to see fellow editors, learn new things and have all the conference fun!

Diffuse = to disperse or scatter Defuse = to neutralize, literally as with a bomb and figuratively as with a tense situation #SpellCheckCannotSaveYou

I just saw a description of AI-generated text as "eerie, vaguely writing-flavored products" and I will be using that from now on thankyouverymuch.

I can't love this enough: "The Strunk cost fallacy," why we double down on usage myths and outdated rules. By @stancarey.bsky.social stancarey.wordpress.com/2025/01/22/t...

Ever wonder why we "verb" nouns so much in English? English lets us easily move words from one part of speech to another.