HD Editorial Services

11/24/2021

😂This is not what editors do. (To be clear, ClickHole's post is humor, not a misreading.)

Stick to the science, Robert J. Oppenheimer. We’ll take care of the grammar!

08/21/2021

06/17/2021

"If language is incorrect, then what is said does not concord with what was meant; and if what is said does not concord with what was meant, what is to be done cannot be effected."
-Confucius

04/27/2021

Formality can go too far, regardless of the context!

04/27/2021

The founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society has died. Rather than taking a vigilante grammarian's approach to - or a militant grammarian's attitude on - combating abuse of the apostrophe,

"Mr. Richards preferred a more peaceable letter-writing campaign.

"“Dear Sir or Madam,” began his group’s standard notice. “Because there seems to be some doubt about the use of the apostrophe, we are taking the liberty of drawing your attention to an incorrect use.”

“We would like to emphasise that we do not intend any criticism,” the letter added, “but are just reminding you of correct usage should you wish to put right the mistake."

The organization collected documentary evidence of the problem,

"which they posted on their website, of the extent of modern apostrophe abuse: a line declaring that “Diamond’s Are Forever,” a handwritten store sign advertising “LOT’S MORE TOY’S INSIDE” and a newsstand where readers could find “NEW’S AND MAGAZINES.” They discovered a body art salon that announced itself as offering “TATTOO’S,” a concerning error for an establishment whose primary service was the permanent inking of skin."

A retired British newspaperman, he founded the Apostrophe Protection Society to guard against the erosion of a humble yet essential element of the English language.

02/24/2021

Those among you who are working from home and sharing it with a cat may be able to fix this problem without hiring a proofreader. But would denying the cat its space on your keyboard really be fair?

02/23/2021

I'd like to see a similar meme about an eggcorn, a spoonerism, and a mondegreen walking into a bar.

12/05/2020

"Unlike its somehow more ‘whole’ cousin the colon, the semi-colon doesn’t subordinate; it balances. Equal parts poignant pause, an organiser of lists, and juxtaposer of thoughts, they are anything but pretentious. And the more you see them, the easier it becomes to incorporate them seamlessly into writing. Kurt Vonnegut hated semi-colons; you don’t have to."

Kurt Vonnegut, Edgar Allan Poe and Gertrude Stein hated them. Should you too?

12/04/2020

A look at someone excited about all the possibilities language offers
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In the life of John McWhorter, no language but English existed before an encounter with Shirley, a girl with brown eyes and burgundy overalls.... It was 1970. He was 5, taking a piano lesson with his childhood crush on the day his lifelong passion for language was sparked.

“She walked out,” he recalls, “and started talking to her parents in this other language. And I asked my mother, ‘What are they doing?’ and she said, ‘They’re speaking another language.’ ” His mother asked Shirley’s which one it was and then told him, “Hebrew.” On the ride home, McWhorter cried. “I was in tears that she could do something I couldn’t,” he says, but he was also overwhelmed by competing emotions: excitement that other languages existed and distress at being cut off from the girl of his dreams.

John McWhorter is best known as a cultural critic who garners bouquets and brickbats from left and right alike. But he’s really a linguistics geek at heart.

11/05/2020

"When you’re confined to the house, what’s the point of dressing up … or even getting fully dressed, for that matter? Maybe it’s time to follow Donald Duck’s lead and Donaldkacsázás—slang for “Donald ducking,” a.k.a. meandering around your home wearing a shirt but no pants."

The intense emotions we’re all experiencing right now can often feel inexpressible, beyond words. But words in another language than your own just might be the key to giving voice to those emotions.