It’s the most capitalised time of the year, with plenty of Eves and Days and News to contend with, and as you browse the internet and the shop fronts, you’ll no doubt see plenty of interpretations of how to spell them all. To be fair, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day tend to be capitalised properly, but it’s New Year’s Day that causes confusion, probably with good reason. Do all three words start with a capital letter? Are any words capitalised? And that about that apostrophe? Here’s your guide.
Continue readingCopy Editing
Searchmetrics “Changes cannot be saved” error message
You know the drill. You encounter a problem with a popular app, and a quick search reveals someone else has had the same issue. That solves it. So when I was working on a document in Searchmetrics, a massive SEO tool, and this kept popping up …
… I was surprised to see not a single mention of the issue anywhere. Very strange.
The issue is in Searchmetrics Content Manager, within Content Experience. It allows you to write SEO-friendly copy by cross-referencing yours with existing content covering the same subject. The full text is:
Changes cannot be saved to an outdated version of the content. Please refresh the page to view the latest version first.
Error message, Chrome browser, Searchmetrics, Windows 10
Well, I finally got to the bottom of it, and it turned out to be down to an annoying habit of mine that I can’t shake off.
Continue readingMy top twelve English corrections
English is always changing, so today’s common corrections can easily become tomorrow’s accepted forms. It’s precisely how we’ve arrived at where we are now. But there’s a core to the purpose of any language, and that is that we all understand it so we can communicate. We accept variations from the mean, but stray too far and meaning can change. Some people say we don’t need apostrophes as the meaning is always obvious from the context. I’d say that’s true 99% of the time, but there are always borderline cases where it can cause confusion, so it’s better to have a rule and accept that it might sometimes be disobeyed (wilfully or erroneously) than to simply abandon the rule altogether.
Continue readingWhat page am I on in Google Docs?
If you’re used to using Microsoft Word and glancing down to the bottom of the screen to see where you’re up to on a document, you’ll know how simple and intuitive it is:
Similarly, with Adobe Acrobat, you just have a quick look at your dashboard to get the page number:
But when you’re on Google Docs, there is no such counter active on the screen. So how are you supposed to find out what page you’re on in a document? It’s not immediately obvious, but it’s simple when you know how. On desktop computers, you just hover the cursor over the scroll bar on the right to see this pop up:
And there you have it. You’ll also see the current page number in the same place if you use the scroll bar to move through the pages, but that’s not much use if you just want to see the number of the page you’re working on.
Continue readingShould “however” have a comma after it at the start of a sentence?
It’s a debate that can split editors and writers: which of the following is right?
However some people disagreed with the move.
or
However, some people disagreed with the move.
For me, it would always be the second option, for two reasons.
Continue readingWhen does proofreading become copy editing, and editing copywriting?
All proofreaders have been asked to perform a quick proof, only to realise the job is more than correcting apostrophes. And all editors will have edited a job so much that a re-write would have been better. I’ve already covered the differences between proofreading and copy editing, but what happens in those grey areas?
Continue readingColons and semicolons: how to use them
Colons and semicolons are easy to confuse, and in my work as a proofreader and editor I see them misused daily. I’ll just go through the uses of each here.
Continue readingHow to reduce word count (or letter count) in a document
A relatively common task assigned to copywriters and editors is reducing word count or letter count. The motivation is usually:
- aesthetic (making the copy fit on the page more pleasingly);
- restriction (where certain counts are mandatory or advisory, for example in tweets or meta descriptions, or perhaps to make sure a booklet is exactly 32 pages long);
- simplicity (where the original is technical and heavy-going, but needs a simpler rendering for a general audience); or
- for readability (simply shortening rambling text to make it shorter and quicker to read).
Although the reasons for shortening copy might differ, the end product is consistent: to say the say thing with fewer words. Let’s have a look at how to do it.
Continue readingHow to get a pound sign (£) and euro symbol (€) on a US keyboard
Thank you very much, Sainsbury’s UK, for selling me this HP keyboard. I guess I can’t complain about it being US configuration when there’s a massive “US” sticker on the box. And on the whole, it’s the same, except the @ and ” are swapped over. Oh, and there’s no pound sign on it. Even though UK keyboards have a dollar sign on them, the USA doesn’t appear to reciprocate.
So much for the special relationship.
Continue readingProfessional titles and positions – should they start with a capital letter?
People have always been flattered by having their positions start with a capital letter. It marks them out from their subordinates, and makes Persons look Very Important. Anyone from The Queen down to the Area Manager can access an exclusive capitalisation club that is ever out of bounds to the cleaners, sales assistants and copywriters of the world.
But at what point is it wise to stop? If the Area Manager is capitalised, should the Branch Manager? The Assistant Branch Manager? The Team Leader? And if the Chairman of Shell gets a capital, should the Chairman of Bob’s Plumbing Services (Bob)?
Continue reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.