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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
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Danglers Ahead
Danglers in their various forms are one of our most common grammatical lapses. Participle phrases, “like” comparisons, appositives and other modifying constructions generally must be adjacent to the noun or pronoun they refer to. Otherwise, they dangle — and leave a clumsy or confusing sentence. After Deadline http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/danglers-ahead/
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Bright Passages
In the spirit of the season, we’ll take a brief break from carping to offer a small sampling of sparkling prose from recent weeks. After Deadline http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/bright-passages-18/
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Getting Guns Right
Gun facts and terminology can be complicated for those not intimately familiar with the topic. But many readers are knowledgeable, and lapses can hurt our credibility with them. After Deadline http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/getting-guns-right/
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The Stranger in the Story
Most anecdotal ledes are fine in themselves. But the device seems rote and shopworn if a reader encounters one story after another with the same approach. There are many, many ways to start a non-straight-news story; we should look harder for alternatives. After Deadline http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/the-stranger-in-the-lede-2/
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The Slang Patrol
Slang and colloquialisms have their place, for special effect or to deliberately convey an informal, conversational tone. But otherwise, they can seem trite or hackneyed, and can undercut the serious and literate tone we seek. After Deadline http://afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/the-slang-patrol-2/