"Our Prejudices, Ourselves"

Click on the title of the post to read this op-ed piece by Harvey Fierstein from The New York Times.

Just for fun

i just stumbled across this:

Colons and Caps

Is there a rule for capitalizing the first word after a colon? I see this around sometimes, for example in our text book on p. 161. At my internship last summer, if I used a colon, my boss would always edit the sentence to capitalize the first word after the colon. Is this correct? When is this appropriate?

Apostrophes

I've been wondering about apostrophes for words that end with s or an s sound. I know chapter ten touches on this briefly, mentioning that one can add an extra s, but what's preferred these days? I usually just go with the apostrophe after the s (Congress'). Is one way more acceptable than the other? Is it up to the publication to decide its own style for apostrophes?

Test #1

Is it OK to ask a question about test #1? On the third page, in the ninth section on databases, why is the comma struck? I dwelled on that very spot a few times during the week before the test was due. I thought the "and" was being inserted with a caret. Perhaps someone can help me understand the symbol that was given and why the comma needed to be taken out. Thanks.

Semicolons

I was wondering the same thing about copyediting poems as Chi. I'm interested to see the response to her question. Since I have to think of another question, I'll use this to bring up semicolons. Pat passed out the "Punctuation Pattern Sheet," about clauses. If a semicolon only goes between two independent clauses, why not just use a period? (Instead of, "John washed his car; he waxed it, too." Couldn't one also write, "John washed his car. He waxed it, too.")

The Copyeditor's Goal

Chapter four discusses the editor's role in technical terms. However, what is the copyeditor's ultimate goal? Overall, what does the copyeditor strive to do through the first, second, and third edits? I was wondering if the copyeditor strives for perfection. Or if, perhaps, it's something more realistic or practical, such as clarity or readability. Maybe we hope to polish a rough stone. But do we hope to make it perfect?

Errors Where There May Be None

This isn't really a technical question, but it's one that has definitely come up for me (especially when we looked at the review of Beyond Words). When copyediting, how do you avoid a certain sense of "paranoia?" I sometimes find that when I am looking for errors, I look too hard and find error where there perhaps is none. Is it just a matter of becoming more comfortable with copyediting? Is there a way to relax about it a little? Or is it better to be, sort of, overly cautious? Maybe this feeling will pass. But, I was just wondering. Thanks.

(from Jenny)

Clarity

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but here it goes:

When looking at text, how much power does the editor have to change the order of the words? Or to add the the already existing words? Number seventeen in exercise two brought up these questions for me. Are words added simply to make the sentence more clear? In editing, how does one know the best way to offer more clarity?

(Original: Shakespeare's sonnets are about people who agonize over it.

Lovers was struck out for "people." And "over it," for "about being in love.")