You Don't Say

John McIntyre, whom James Wolcott called "the Dave Brubeck of the art and craft of copy editing," writes on language, editing, journalism, and random topics. Identifying his errors relieves him of the burden of omniscience. Write to jemcintyre@gmail.com, befriend at Facebook, or follow at Twitter: @johnemcintyre. His original "You Don't Say" blog at The Baltimore Sun ran from 2005 to 2021, and posts on it can sometimes be found at baltimoresun.com through Google searches.

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

You were not born yesterday. Be skeptical as editor and reader

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In a time when widespread disinformation appears to be overtaking widespread misinformation, you would do well to read and edit cautiously a...
Monday, September 8, 2025

Bad behavior in public? Summon a mob

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 If you have been on social media the past few days, you know the story. Video shows a woman confronting a father and son at a baseball game...
Friday, August 29, 2025

Discoveries

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 Some forty-odd years ago, I picked up a copy of Amy Clampitt's The Kingfisher  from the slush pile of books to be reviewed at The Cinci...
Monday, August 25, 2025

Cracker Barrel culture will not nourish you

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 When my grandfather, John H. McIntyre, died in 1945, my father, Raymond McIntyre, took over the operation of his general store in Elizavill...
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Thursday, August 21, 2025

In case you missed it ...

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 With all the claims on your time, along with your wide reading, it seems possible that you have not been assiduous in following this blog. ...
Monday, August 18, 2025

Just pick up a book

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 It has been a dreary summer in Baltimore, too damn hot to venture out of doors when it was not pouring down raining. Then a week of a vile ...
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Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Tais-toi, Karoline

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 The marginally literate White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week that the French should be "grateful" to the U...
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Thursday, July 24, 2025

I took a vacation; there will be no slides

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Last month Kathleen and I joined her sibs, Linda and Paul Capcara, and their spouses for a trip to the Capcara homeland in the hinterlands o...
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Thursday, July 17, 2025

Septuagenarian

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Granted that I'm elderly, what are you going to call me? "Senior" and "senior  citizen" are just bland, milk-toast t...
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Saturday, July 12, 2025

These just in

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 Our job as professional copy editors is to identify and correct your lapses, sparing you public embarrassment. That does not, however, mean...
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