Category Style Manuals

But Can I Start a Sentence with “But”?

Q. Is it “happy medium” or “happy median”? My author writes: “We would all be much better served as stewards of finite public funds if we could find that happy median where trust reigns supreme.” But Can I Start a Sentence with “But”? is a new book from the folks who bring you The Chicago Manual of Style: a collection from our monthly online style Q&A.

Wannabe Editors: Can You Pass a Proofreading Test?

When my office hires at the entry level, there’s a proofreading and copyediting test, and for various reasons we give the test in person and on paper: It levels the playing field by eliminating access to e-mail and online sources. It shows us how a person will mark up copy on the job (a frequent chore for the new kid). It isolates proofing and editing skills from word-processing skills. Results vary.

How Sticklers Give Copyediting a Bad Name

Public sticklers have annoyed me forever, and I’ve been meaning to write about that, but recently, in a post titled “Editors, Would You Do Me This Tiny Favour?” Katy McDevitt at PublishEd Adelaide did a great job of it herself. McDevitt gets to the meat of it in point 3:

Feeling Peculiar: Awaiting Rescue

Yesterday I learned that my new blog home at Lingua Franca* does not use Chicago style. My first response was nonchalance; I know that not everyone uses CMOS. But overnight it hit me the way a sniffle on Wednesday is a cold by Thursday, and now I’m in full-bore whining mode.