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.

Monday, May 15, 2023

Fixing the blame

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 Thirty years ago, under John S. Carroll, The Baltimore Sun  refined its policy on corrections. Because production of the paper was a collec...
Monday, May 8, 2023

Weep no more

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Someone has suggested on Twitter that it is time for the Kentucky Derby to dump "My Old Kentucky Home," and as an expatriate Kentu...
4 comments:
Saturday, May 6, 2023

Uneasy lies the head that is coronated

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As far as I can tell from online comments, both monarchists and republicans appear to be spluttering over people saying that Charles III has...
2 comments:
Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Don't take subjects, take people

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Fifty years ago this June, I had to take my transcript to my academic advisor to be approved for graduation from Michigan State University. ...
3 comments:
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Stick it to sticklers

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To start. My name is John, and I am a recovering stickler. As a bookworm and teacher's pet, I absorbed the schoolroom grammar to the las...
3 comments:
Thursday, March 9, 2023

Copy editors see things many readers don't notice

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We of the obscure craft see many things, large and small. Here is a recent sampling.  Item:  A flag flying half-mast . Uh-uh. A flag is only...
5 comments:
Saturday, March 4, 2023

Reminders for National Grammar Day

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There are many Englishes, and each of its dialects is valid for communication among its users.   Standard written English is not the One Tru...
2 comments:
Friday, March 3, 2023

Grammar Noir: The Old Editor grilled

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I was at the bar sipping an afternoon boulevardier when some rando came in and asked, “Are you the Old Editor?” When I owned the soft impeac...
3 comments:
Monday, February 27, 2023

The question

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Gather around, children, and let the Old Editor tell you a story from the Before Times about how copy editing is more than messing with comm...
2 comments:
Thursday, February 16, 2023

What to do with all those young people

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 Recently the Associated Press Stylebook  issued guidance to avoid using the  with nouns referring to groups of people, such as "the me...
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