Editing & Proofreading
LOGIN OR LOG IN?
Surprise! It’s both. Login is the noun. Log in is the verb. So, you log in to your website using your login. Got it? Have some more helpful writing tips? We always love to hear them.
HYPHENATED OR NON-HYPHENATED?
Some punctuation rules are pretty clear. You know that a period belongs at the end of a sentence. Quotation marks go around direct quotes. Exclamation points, in general, don’t belong anywhere in your copy. But hyphen rules are not so clear cut (or is it clear-cut?). It seems that everybody has their own in-house “rules” […]
56 GOOGLE SEARCH TRICKS FOR STUDENTS
This article is courtesy of OnlineDegree.net A great list of tips for anyone who does research online. Google has been around for ages, and if you’re just starting college, you’ve probably used the search engine for most of your academic life. But there’s more to the powerful search tool than just typing in keywords. Here […]
AP: GOODBYE “WEB SITE;” HELLO “WEBSITE”
Good news for all word nerds: The Associated Press has finally made the switch from the old-fashioned “Web site” to the simpler, more natural-looking “website.” Yay! To me, “Web site” has always seemed a little stuffy and English teacher-ish. Good for AP to know when it’s time to change things up. According to the AP’s […]
SIMPLE PROOFREADING PROCESS WITH A BIG NAME: RATIOCINATION
Thanks to Alise Isbell for contributing this wonderful post on a very interesting proofreading method. You’re bound to catch more errors if you do this! Ratiocination is a miracle that changed the way I write and edit. While not a professional writer, my company trains people how to write more effectively, and ratiocination helps. Webster’s […]
EIGHT PROOFREADING MISTAKES THAT COUNT!
How’s this for a proofreading horror story: Because of a teeny little typo, people calling for a free cab service on New Year’s Eve ended up connecting with an “adult” chat line instead. Oops. That’s the kind of mistake that most likely ends in a lost client and a very, very unhappy boss. Proofreading is […]
TEN WORDS TO LEARN HOW TO SPELL IN 2010
Make any resolutions this year? I’m going to propose you make one more: Polish your emails. Write flawless notes. Look smarter. Check out this hilarious cartoon on The Oatmeal’s site, Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling. It outlines some of the most commonly misspelled words (and yes, even the best of us make these […]
BRING VS. TAKE. YOU ONLY THINK YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THESE.
So, here’s the thing. You probably think you know how to use bring and take. I bring books here. I take books there. Right? Easy smeasy. You “take baby wipes with you” to the store, because you are at the house and you are going to go to the store. Now, if your wife is […]
HOW TO REMEMBER TO COMPLIMENT OR COMPLEMENT
Ok, so I admit. I always have to look this one up. I finally figured out a way to remember it. When you complEment something, you are complEting it. As in, your bracelet complements your blouse. When you compliment someone, you’re just saying something nice about them. Now, if I can just figure out a […]
“THAT” VS. “WHICH”
Today, one of our most grammar-savvy clients emailed us with a question. She asked: If a sentence says, ‘A policy (that/which) protects the merchant against penalties… ’ should you use ‘that’ or ‘which’? And why? I wasn’t 100 percent sure I knew the right answer. I was pretty sure. Mostly sure. But not totally sure. […]