Monthly Archives: February 2014

My Preventive Medicine is Better than Your Preventative Medicine

I came across a post by Grammar Girl today, which discussed the use of two pairs of words:

preventive vs. preventative

orient vs. orientate

Grammar Girl says they’re both correct, but for Americans the shorter words preventive and orient are more common. I’d concur for Canadians — COD equates the words. CP style, however, stipulates that preventative not be used — probably a space-saving measure.

By the way, there’s still time — eight more days — to contribute to Grammar Girl’s Peeve Wars fundraiser. And a heads up: March 4 is Grammar Day. How do you plan to celebrate?

The Thesis Edit

Do you want your thesis professionally edited but don’t know where to start? Both the Editors’ Association of Canada (Editors Canada) and your university provide guidelines for editing theses. In the publication “Guidelines for Ethical Editing of Theses/Dissertations,” Editors Canada suggests you obtain written permission from your thesis supervisor before hiring an editor, and aContinue Reading

Find Your Next Good Read — But Not on Goodreads

I’m currently reading Ali Smith’s There but for the, which is one of those books you can’t put down — mainly because Smith’s writing is such a pleasure. Her writing is creative without defaulting to affectation. For me, there’s nothing so tiresome as a relentless display of creativity with the written word — a creativityContinue Reading

Editors and Writers: Tech Your Work to the Next Level

Who doesn’t love their tech? Editors and writers are no exception. Check out these cool toys: Square Reader – Need a convenient method of payment to hawk your published content at book readings and fairs? Look no further than this device that allows you to accept payments with your mobile phone or tablet. Usito –Continue Reading

Falling Upward: No Editing Required

I attended a book study on Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward this afternoon. (I wrote a post about Rohr’s book previously.) Group members discussed “Chapter 4: The Tragic Sense of Life.” The tragic sense of life results from the realization that life is more about disorder and flaws than it is about order and perfection. AcceptingContinue Reading

The Oxford Comma

The Oxford Comma

Ah, the Oxford comma: some love it, some hate it. I use it, but I have no problem dropping it when required by a style guide. However, there are some instances when the Oxford comma is indeed needed for clarity: (From blogher.com: Gifts for Grammar Geeks.)

Words: Discovery and Depth

I love writers who introduce me to new words (I’m looking at you, Rex Murphy and Conrad Black).  I recently discovered the word irenic (“no irenic third way”) in a well written and well researched article by Reverend Joe Boots in Jubilee, a local magazine. (Sorry about the magazine cover — it’s absolutely execrable.) IrenicContinue Reading

Coming Soon: Copyeditcat.com

I’m building a website for CopyEditCat Editorial Services. That’s right: I’m building it. So it might not be live for awhile. 🙂 But I’ve bought my domain name, and I’m piling on the bricks to build this baby as fast as I can. It’s fun to be the wizard pulling the levers behind the curtain.Continue Reading

E-Spellings

Compound words often have me reaching for the dictionary to confirm I’ve spelled them correctly. The Chicago Manual of Style confirms that compound spellings are indeed the most common spelling questions for writers and editors. Is the compound in question two words, hyphenated, or closed up as a single word? Non member, non-member, or nonmember?Continue Reading

Peeve Wars

Are you a pompous grammarian with a competitive entrepreneurial spirit? Then get over to FundAnything and help Grammar Girl with her new game, Peeve Wars. Peeve Wars is a card game in which you collect peeve cards to annoy your opponent. My favourite peeve card is the Grammar Snob (“Just because you’re correct doesn’t meanContinue Reading