Monthly Archives: September 2014

Who Says Editors Don’t Have a Sense of Humour?

I don’t often use social media abbreviations—BTW, ICYMI, IIRC, TTYL, LOL. They just aren’t me. Call me old school, but other than the occasional FYI, my most commonly used abbreviation is OK. What editor can deny the trenchancy of good old OK?

In fact, I recently learned that editors are credited with creating the abbreviation.

According to the current issue (October 2014) of National Geographic, OK is short for “oll korrect,” a phrase deliberately misspelled and used by editors back in the early 1800s to indicate that copy was “all correct.” No doubt the editors were lamenting that the English language—and the very intelligence of English-speaking people—was going to hell in a handbasket, ha, ha. (That’s LOL for you young’uns.)

OK first appeared in print 175 years ago in a Boston newspaper. With that kind of history and with its editorial parentage, no wonder OK is a favourite of mine.

Let’s Rest Awhile—in a While

Editors are familiar with the usual suspects when it comes to usage: apt/likely, pore/pour, bring/take, comprise/compose, and so on. These pairs of words are often confused and misused, and editors keep an eye out for them. Well, this editor has a confession to make. There’s a pair of suspects that trips me up: a whileContinue Reading

If You’re Not a Rose, You Need an Editor

Ah, summer. We hardly knew ya. Everything in my garden has pretty much come and gone—the tomatoes, the peppers, the herbs, the flowers. But my senses were surprised a few days ago when a vision of perfection appeared. The rose stands tall—to my shoulders!—and measures a full 6 inches in diameter. The fragrance is bigContinue Reading