We share insights based on our insights and experiences —> We share insights based on our experiences #AmEditing

When given the choice between a two-syllable word and a four-syllable word, many writers will say, “Oooo … I’ll use the four-syllable word. Then I’ll sound smarter.” The trouble is, your readers prefer the two-syllable word. They don’t have time for your BS.

“Language change has always been beyond our control and shaped by invisible factors. Your preferences don’t really matter, because linguistic evolution reflects cultural moments more than the feelings of individual people.” — from “Algospeak” by Adam Aleksic

This guy wrote “Star Trick Next Generation” instead of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” AND THE JUDGES ACCEPTED IT! What’s this world coming to? #Jeopardy

My money’s on a ghostwritten book and an early elimination from Dancing With the Stars Season 36.

My fellow copy editors: If you’re on social media talking about how much you hate when people say this or that, or you’re ranting about petty trash like “less” vs. “fewer,” you’re not helping yourself get hired, nor are you helping boost the profession. No one wants to work with a judgmental a-hole.

I’m not a millennial myself, but I must say I do enjoy the millennial pause.

M-W spent that extra hour getting feisty.

My 16-year-old was telling me about one of his favorite YouTubers. Instead of releasing short videos every few days, this guy releases one two-hour video every couple of years. I said, “Son, back in my day, we called such videos ‘movies.’” Everything old is new again.

Grammarly is changing its name to Superhuman, apparently in a move to rebrand itself as a multipurpose AI-powered all-in-one solution, not just a mostly useless editing tool.

I wish not to offend anyone, but I dislike the word “hubby.” I take no issue with those who use it. I just don’t like it.

About once a month for the last 20 years, someone has asked me, “Hey, are you a cop?” It must be the bald head and the stern look. Sometimes I reply, “No, I’m a cop ... eee editor!” No one ever gets it. Ever.

Parents, please check your kids’ candy this Halloween. I’ve just found an ancient metal whistle with the inscription “QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT" inside a Snickers bar. I blew it and heard a note of infinite distance, and now I’m haunted by a figure in pale, fluttering draperies. Be safe.

So there are currently … seven and a half?

Ignore the adorable cat for a moment, and answer me this: Have you heard people use this phrasal template in face-to-face conversation—as opposed to only seeing it in memes? Because I know I have. I’m reading “Algospeak” by @etymologynerd.bsky.social, and I’m high alert for this kind of stuff.

Me, a copy editor, scouring the web to figure out what all these abbreviations mean when the author could have taken the few extra seconds necessary to fully spell the words.

Took my 3-year-old niece out to lunch. She said she wanted a cheeseburger. When her cheeseburger arrived, she was like, “WTF? I didn’t want meat.” Turns out she wanted a grilled cheese, which her parents have been letting her call a cheeseburger her whole life. SMH, what’s this world coming to?

I’m not saying em dashes are good or bad or a sign of AI or whatever. I’m just saying you don’t need an em dash in every sentence. You certainly don’t need three in one sentence. I mean, really.

I keep getting notifications from the Starbucks app announcing new secret menu drinks, and I don’t think they understand how secrets work.

Hey, if you’re embedding a link on a webpage or in an email or in a document (so, anywhere), make the link longer than one word. “Click here for more information” should be hyperlinked — not just the word “here.” This works better for people with small screens, low vision, or imprecise hands.

Yesterday’s NYT Spelling Bee didn’t accept “gyat.” SMDH.

I’ve encountered many semicolons today, and not a single one was used correctly.

I was listening to a podcast, and the host was talking about boiled eggs. Because of his accent (Southern US), his pronunciation of “boiled” sounds like “bold,” and I love it. I shall now always refer to boiled eggs as bold eggs.

provide oversight and monitoring of --> oversee and monitor #AmEditing #BuriedVerbs #ZombieNouns

Just came across “leverage” and “utilizing” IN THE SAME SENTENCE. #AmEditing

The 2018 firing of ABC employee Roseanne Barr was a personnel decision made by ABC. The 2025 suspension of ABC employee Jimmy Kimmel was a personnel decision made by the federal government. If you don’t understand the difference, go back and read that slowly or ask a friend to read it to you.

I hope Nate Bargatze’s Boys and Girls Club stunt at the Emmys is the beginning of the end of this nation’s love of Nate Bargatze. Shortening speeches, making room for more bits, and putting a charity in the middle is a trifecta of bad decisions.

we offer virtual training, accessible online --> we offer virtual training #AmEditing

to facilitate the identification of --> to identify #AmEditing

The Cambridge Dictionary has added an entry for “skibidi.” To paraphrase a post I saw a decade ago regarding “twerk”: If you think your opposition to a dictionary recognizing “skibidi” makes you a defender of the English language, you don’t understand how the English language or dictionaries work.

While editing, I accidentally changed “Sodium reduction” to “Sodium Seduction.” I immediately corrected it, but now I can’t stop imagining what sodium seduction would look like.

Removing this from its original context today so as to avoid turning it into a dunk, but for the thousandth time: The word "till" in the sense of "until" predates the word "until" by a century and has been in regular use for a millennium, give or take. It's not an abbreviation; it's a word.

Listen, if I’m editing something for you and you’ve told me to use Merriam-Webster as my guide, I’m going to change “roadmap“ to “road map.” I won’t like it, but I’ll do it. #AmEditing

At first glance, I thought this was a story about older people calling younger people “sweetheart.” In fact, it’s the other way around. Here’s my policy: I don’t call anyone “sweetheart” except for my kids and my spouse and ... yeah, that’s it. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

When did the construction “in the __________ space” become so popular? I’m seeing it everywhere. leaders in the finance space --> finance leaders retailers in the clothing space --> clothing retailers researchers in the fibromyalgia space --> fibromyalgia researchers #AmEditing

Do you think editors are secretly judging your every typo? Think again! On Friday, I will post the latest episode of The Editor’s Half Hour, featuring grammar guru Dave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social! We chat about why *not* being your grandma’s grammar police is the new editorial vibe.

Email: The lab results from your recent physical are ready. To view them, don’t log in to the account you used to schedule the appointment. Create a new account on a separate site. In fact, create a new account to view each of the seven lab results. To learn what the numbers mean, IDK, try Google.

If you think grammar is all about stiff rules, think again. Dave Nelsen (@thegrammargeek.bsky.social) is here to shake things up and challenge the norms—with a modern twist that even your grandma would approve of. Visit piquepublishing.com/podcast to catch up on past episodes!

Making baseball players wear in-game mics is never a good idea, but this is the worst execution of it I’ve ever seen. #MLBAllStarGame

Unsurprisingly, the top lookup on Merriam-Webster this morning is “obliterate.” It means “to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of.” It is not a direct synonym of “damage.”

“Enough Is Enuf” by Gabe Henry is filled with fascinating facts, but this might be my fave: The Chicago White Stockings baseball team became the White Sox because a writer for the Chicago Tribune (which championed simplified spelling) used “White Sox” in headlines to save space. The nickname stuck.

There’s an error in today’s #Connections, and I’m going to go ahead and say it out loud because it’s not a spoiler: “timeout” (one word) should be “time out” (two words).

Lawyers filed a 36-page memo supporting their motion to dismiss. Trouble is, the court had set a 30-page limit. So, the lawyers switched the font from 13-pt. Book Antiqua to 12-pt. Times New Roman and resubmitted the memo. My only question is, who TF uses 13-pt. Book Antiqua as their default font?

I once got yelled at for eating Lewis Black’s sandwich. Not by Lewis Black, but by a stagehand.

the summary above --> the preceding summary For people using screen-reading technology, the summary wasn’t above. For people reading a hard copy, the summary was on the preceding pages, not above. #AmEditing

within a two-week time frame —> within two weeks You don’t need a fancy way to write “two weeks.” Just write “two weeks.” #AmEditing

Don’t mind me, I’m just over here fascinated by social media’s reactions to #Wordle answers. Earlier this week, the answer was “admin,” and people were like “that’s not a word!” Later in the week, it was “edify” and “datum,” and people were like “that’s not a word I personally use!” People, right?

skilled craftsman --> skilled artisan #AmEditing

I often use the phrase “got it!“ in work emails/texts/pings to express confirmation. Every so often, I accidentally type “go tit!” instead. I’ve always caught the error before hitting send, but one of these days I’ll let it slip through.

Marc Maron on people who feel the need to share their bad takes on everything: “I don’t know if it’s still No. 1, but it used to be the biggest fear people have is public speaking. But now it seems like not enough people are afraid of it.”