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Man Bites Sandwich
Our reporters interview people all the time — sometimes over lunch, dinner or coffee. Often, though, the reference to what someone is consuming seems rote or pointless. This write-by-numbers effect is even worse if we use cliched descriptions like “nibbled,” “munched” or “picked at.” After Deadline http://ift.tt/1j7OZFD
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Such and Such
When “as such” is used correctly, with a clear antecedent, you should be able to substitute that antecedent for “such” and have the sentence make sense. But we frequently misuse “as such” in a much looser way to connect two thoughts. If there’s no clear noun antecedent for “such,” think again and rephrase. After Deadline […]
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Close but Not Quite
A slightly unusual word choice can enliven a story. But we should make sure we know what our slightly unusual word actually means. Here are several recent cases where we reached for a word, only to come up with the wrong one or to use it incorrectly. After Deadline http://ift.tt/1e0kyf1
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Can You Spell That, Please?
Always double-check the spelling of names, our most common source of errors. And let’s triple-check names with multiple popular versions — like “Katherine,” “Katharine,” Catherine,” “Cathryn” and “Kathryn.” After Deadline http://ift.tt/L6nTSQ
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Slave trade documents among illegal Foreign Office cache
Papers might provide information for people seeking compensation for ancestors’ suffering, says historian Historic papers about the slave trade are among the enormous cache of public documents that the Foreign Office has unlawfully hoarded in a secret archive, the Guardian has learned. Some of the papers appear to date back to 1662 and are thought […]
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Billions and Billions
Not just wrong, but a thousand times wrong. That’s what happens when we confuse a million with a billion, or (more rarely) a billion with a trillion. We should take a deep breath, stop, think, check and then double-check every reference to such large numbers. After Deadline http://ift.tt/1iNqNYT