thedanglingmodifier.co.uk

Great news this week: the recession is at an end!

Phew! To think how worried we all were last October when I started this blog, about the credit crunch and what sort of impact it might have on editorial staff and standards. I know I wasn’t the only one who feared that business people – in their collective madness – might cut back on copy-editing and proofing. Fortunately, the recession is over and we can look forward to plenty of work as the number of B2B websites and publications increases. › Continue reading

It was a couple of years ago, I think, when I was first told not to use the term ‘brainstorm’. I was freelancing at some public sector organisation. I remember the deputy managing editor of the website telling me that the word ‘brainstorm’ is offensive to epileptics and I laughed uproariously – thinking this was some very witty joke – only to realise a moment later that no one else was laughing and that this bloke was being serious. › Continue reading

This week I bought a jacket – some outdoor wear so that I can make the most of the glorious British summer without catching cold. I read the label of course, and marvelled at the quality of the copywriting without actually understanding the words. It wasn’t really written in plain English – it was more about concepts – but it certainly reassured me that I’d got value for money. › Continue reading

If you are worried about the state of plain English, or standards of English on the whole – particularly in the English-speaking country where the language originated – you had better not listen to what England’s Schools Minister said this Tuesday on the radio.

On the other hand, if you’re the sort of editor who doesn’t expect to retire for another 20 to 30 years, you may take heart from the fact that one in five of the next generation can’t write extended sentences, use punctuation, read between the lines of a story or understand the moral or message behind it. › Continue reading