Tag: language

Weighing Your Words

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Blue skies over a calm blue lake with a white concrete path pier cutting through the water and leading to a gazebo at end of pier
Take a clear path to your message with precise word choices. Photo by Natalie Roth

When’s the last time you looked up a word in the dictionary? I look up words all the time when I copyedit. Often I want to check if something is one word or two (the trifecta of health care, childcare, and day care springs to mind—spellings may vary), but sometimes I also want to check the meaning of a term and make sure it’s been used properly.

My latest copyediting project was peppered with words that I don’t stumble on in my daily life. My favorite was sequela, plural sequelae. It means a secondary result. A sequela of taking on this editing project was learning words like sequela! And since I looked it up on Merriam-Webster online, a concomitant piece of information was the audio pronunciation, which makes it even easier to incorporate sequela into my lexicon and casually use it in a conversation if I wish. 

I ended up writing down a few more words that captured my imagination in this project, words like concomitant (accompanying), opprobrium (contempt), and diaphoretic (perspiring profusely). These words made the day seem brighter: They let me peek into the author’s perspective on the world through how they chose to describe it. They were also a reminder of the depth and breadth of vocabulary words out there just waiting to help someone precisely express their ideas. 

How do you find more precise words for your own writing? If you get diaphoretic at the thought of finding the exact word to describe what you are trying to say, one handy word resource beyond the dictionary or ordinary thesaurus is WordHippo. This free website is a fully stocked synonym generator. For example, if I look up the word sequela, it starts me off with over thirty synonyms. WordHippo also has antonyms, rhyming words, and sample sentences to help writers choose their words with confidence.

Words help you get across your message, and thoughtful word choices strengthen that message. Have you stumbled on any words that spark your imagination lately? Share them with me on my Contact page.

Each Other versus One Another

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“Love each other dearly always. There is scarcely anything else in the world but that: to love one another.”
― Victor Hugo (Les Misérables, Part V, 1887)

What comes to mind when you hear this quote? Is it perhaps an echo of Valentine’s Day? Or a reminder of the need for kindness?

As an editor, the other thing that jumps out to me is the interchangeable use of “each other” and “one another.” This use matches how many people write and talk, but not everyone would agree. Some grammarians recommend using “each other” if referring to two people, and then using “one another” for three or more people. So, a one-on-one chat lets you catch up “with each other” but a group meeting (3+ people) may be to compare notes “with one another.”

Applying this logic to the Hugo quote would shape the meaning of the entreaty to love each other to apply to a couple, while the maxim to love one another would have a more universal quality.

a close-up of smoothed over beach rocks
Two, three, four… I lost count! Beach pebbles stacked on one another. Photo by Natalie Roth

And yet, as confirmed in Merriam-Webster, in actual usage this distinction is often not observed and hasn’t been since the 16th century. The terms can very easily be interchanged. Many people prefer to always use “each other” as it can sound less stuffy, while others switch between the two terms with ease.

In my different editing capacities, I’ve come across style guides that make the distinction, and others that do not. Again, both terms are correct if your style guide allows. Even the dictionary approves of a choose-your-own-adventure approach to these terms. There is one choice I would always flag, however, and that is one I came across in a published book this week: “each another.”

Do you prefer “each other” or “one another”? Would you interchange them, or perhaps even blend them into the term “each another”? Let me know by sending me a note on my Contact page.

Rethink These Phrases in Fiction Writing

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“I think to myself, therefore I am.” —René Descartes, not the actual quote.

An animated pencil is looking out the window and has a thought bubble with a question mark inside.

This week I’ve been reading Dreyer’s English, which is densely filled with editing tips on grammar, clarity, and style. From among the many tips in his section for fiction writers (and copy editors), I was taken by his caution against overexplaining everyday gestures. For example, I nod my head—not other body parts. So why not simplify and say: I nodded. I shrug my shoulders—and there aren’t any other body parts you think of if you hear that I shrugged. And finally, I think to myself—I can’t think to anyone else. Dreyer suggests cutting it down to “I think.” These simple edits in a text would look like this:

·        He nodded his head in agreement. > He nodded.

·        She shrugged her shoulders. > She shrugged.

·        I think to myself, Where did the time go? > I think, Where did the time go?

·        I think to myself, What a wonderful world. > I think, What a wonderful world. (Okay, here you may see the difference between lyrics and prose writing. This worked better the first way when Louis Armstrong sang it.)

These tips may not be a fit for every writer and every style of writing, but they are nonetheless approachable, simple tweaks that unclutter a piece of writing. A copy editor’s role is to notice these types of redundant phrases that the writer may have missed and, by doing so, give them the opportunity to think more consciously about their writing.

And what about those times when your character can think at someone else, rather than to themselves? I copyedited a YA novel about mind reading and high school, and the characters did just that. Read the full plot of Mysterious Ways here. This book is also featured on my Projects page.

Pencil image created using Bing AI’s DALL-E 3, January 17, 2024.

Reign, Rain, Go Away: Spotting Common Homophones

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A monarch reigns over their country. A budgeter reins in their spending. A gloomy cloud rains down on a city. These verbs sound the same, but they each look and mean something different.

A forest of tall, thin trees towers above moss-covered logs in the foreground at the bend in a dirt hiking path
Moss reigns where it rains more, as seen on a rainy Washington hike in 2023. Photo by Natalie Roth

This past week while editing I spotted this classic typo-not-typo known as a homophone. Homophones are words that sound the same (homo = same; phonos = sound) but have different meanings or spellings.

Common instances of homophones are:

  • their/they’re/there
  • to/too/two
  • your/you’re

It’s easy to type the wrong one by mistake, but usually a pretty simple fix when proofreading a piece of writing with fresh eyes. Then there are some homophones that are a bit trickier, such as:

  • affect/effect
  • capital/capitol
  • complement/compliment
  • rain/reign/rein

These homophones appear less frequently. You may have to pause and think a bit longer about the part of speech and how the word is being used. My role as an editor is full of pauses for things like homophones. Is that word spelled right? Is it used correctly? Let me check. Is that date right? Is it formatted correctly? Let me check. It takes some time, but the end result is a piece that both sounds and looks how the writer intended. And that sounds good to me!

Want to learn more about homophones? Check out Scholastic’s list of Top 20 Commonly Confused Homophones (on scholastic.com).

Do homophones pop up in your writing? Proofreading is often that last stop to read for proper use of homophones and similar issues. Learn more about proofreading on my Services page.

Careful What You Wish For

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foreground shows a hand holding a lit candle with a brick fireplace in background
Make a wish and blow out the candle, they say… Photo by Natalie Roth

I’m new to the fanciful world of American author Bill Brittain, but I recently read his books All the Money in the World and The Wish Giver. In both books, the main characters are presented with the opportunity to make a wish for anything they want. But, as is often the case with these magic wish deals, the characters learn the hard way that they have not selected the best wording for their wishes and things start to go wrong, fast.

I’m about to give away a few plot points for the first book; granted, it was written in 1979, but I still wanted to give fair warning.

In All the Money in the World, the main character gets just that—all the money in the world. That includes money from people’s pockets and wallets and under their couch cushions. From all the bank vaults across the globe. And chaos ensues. Yet the phrasing of this wish doesn’t end up getting him what he truly wanted, which was enough money for his family farm to thrive, and for him to buy the same toys as his friends. I couldn’t help but think that, had he phrased his wish with more precision and forethought, to be exactly what he truly meant, it might have gotten him what he wanted without disrupting the whole world.

A similar fate befalls the three children who make wishes in The Wish Giver. Bill Brittain gives them rather careless phrasing for their wishes to get the story rolling. It is a reminder to readers that making a wish for one problem to go away may just bring on a whole new set of problems, and that trying to make all your problems magically disappear is bound to come with a few catches.

Even knowing this lesson, I couldn’t help but play around with how some of the kids could have phrased their wishes. If they’d tweaked their message for clarity and avoided the obvious loopholes or double meanings, would they have gotten what they actually wanted? Having a second opinion to read over the wish before it went out into the world might have at least made it harder for the wish giver to bend their words. I know he would have found some other mischievous way to bring about a silly result, but it doesn’t stop my wishful thinking.

Similarly, having an editor look over your writing may not guarantee all your wishes coming true, but it will help get your message across more clearly and succinctly. It can bring your own writing closer to how you envisioned it. And there’s no tricky magic involved, just know-how and experience.

Have a project that may need an editor? Check out my Services page to see what stages I can help with.

Improve Your Writing with “Less is More”

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It’s the time of year in Chicago when coughs and sniffles are a steady background track to our daily activities. Part of that is unenviable throat clearing. It could be pre-cough, post-cough, or a simple reaction to the dry air. But throat clearing is usually not a sign of strong health, nor is it a sign of strong writing. 

Throat clearing in writing refers to words or phrases that are unnecessary to the author’s message. Eliminating these words from your writing can lead to more effective, focused prose. For example: “I’m really pretty happy with the direction this whole project seems to be going in” is a long way of saying “I’m happy with the progress of the project.”

Imagine if Charles Dickens had been throat clearing at the start of A Tale of Two Cities. Would it be as memorable today?

In Dreyer’s English, longtime copy chief of Random House Benjamin Dreyer suggests an exercise for both writers and editors: to spend one week without using “throat clearers” in writing or speech. If you take out these little words and find there isn’t much substance remaining, it may be time to rework the sentence.

The following terms are considered throat clearers and can often be eliminated to strengthen writing:

  • very
  • rather
  • really
  • quite
  • that said
  • actually
  • in fact
  • just (to mean merely)
  • so
  • pretty (as an adverb: it’s pretty cold, we were pretty happy with it)
  • of course
  • surely

That said, I’m actually quite sure that this task would surely be a challenge for many. Or, without the throat clearing: This may be a difficult task. But it can also be helpful in thinking through what you want to say and using more precise words to get there.

Looking to pare down your text with expert help? Consider what option may work for you by reviewing my Services page.

*Read the full text of A Tale of Two Cities for free on Project Gutenberg.

Fits Them to a T

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Now that we’re not in T-shirt weather, I’ve been reading about characters who are. They’re wearing tee shirts with phrases on them and designing concert Ts for their own bands. One thing they are not doing is wearing t-shirts, with a lowercase T. Merriam-Webster lists both T-shirt and tee shirt, with good reason: the classic T-shirt is shaped like a capital T. More of a turtleneck collar, perhaps, would justify a lowercase T, but in the meantime a T-shirt is more comfortable capitalized.

A stick figure with a body shaped like a capital T is waving to a stick figure with the body of a lowercase t.
T-shirts are more common than t-shirts. Doodle by Natalie Roth

Besides looking up “T-shirt,” I’ve been toggling between Microsoft Word and Merriam-Webster this week to verify how to treat many other words, like makerspace and car seat. It helps to know that lifelike is one word, while life-size has a hyphen. This may be the less glamorous side of copyediting (or copy editing, depending on your style), yet it is so satisfying to know that the project spellings fit the dictionary spellings to a T.

Line drawing of a capital letter T made out of two big pencils and with stick arms and legs. Next to it is a little stick figure who is drawing on one of the legs.
I asked Bing AI for a doodle, and here’s what I got! Created using Bing AI’s DALL-E 3, November 17, 2023

Looking for someone to verify those little details on your latest project? You can ask me about copyediting using my Contact page.

“Please Mr. Postman”

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Photo of a blank card next to a sunny window sill, with a pen ready to write.

Please Mister Postman, look and see

Is there a letter, a letter for me.

I sang along to this and other Motown songs when I was younger, and I still get caught up in the catchy tune. But this week, when an article I edited used the word “postman,” I paused on the word. Language has changed since the Marvelettes first sang the tune in 1961. Some might say the term is old-fashioned, that it should be “mailman.” Others might point out that postal workers aren’t just men anymore, and the term should be a gender-neutral term such as “letter carrier.” The latter is in line with the latest APA Style Guidelines for bias-free language, which advocates for choosing language that is inclusive and respectful. You can see their entry on avoiding gendered occupational titles here.

As an editor, I have the opportunity to spot problematic language and check in with the writer about their intent. Does a certain word choice unnecessarily exclude people or introduce bias? Does the phrasing come across as disrespectful; was that the intent? I try to thoughtfully consider the language that I find on the page, and it’s an ongoing process.

This past week I added to my awareness by attending an ACES editing webinar on potentially problematic language. Some of the examples were good reminders of things I’d heard before about considering wording used around race, gender, and mental health. For instance, saying someone “suffers from depression” is biased compared to simply stating that they “have depression.” Another piece of advice was to consider the language that advocacy groups recommend and to think through the pros and cons for choosing terms when there’s no consensus. Ask: Is this word choice perpetuating a harmful stereotype? Is it respectful to readers? The editing stage is the perfect time to catch and consider these moments so that the writing fits the intent.

Whether it’s a handwritten letter from a loved one or the latest novel from your favorite author, words connect us to ideas and feelings. Yet language is changing all the time, so it’s a good idea to think about what ideas and feelings underlie particular word choices. Conscious language guides from advocacy groups and editing associations are great tools to keep up with language trends. Some of these guides are helpfully compiled by editor and authenticity reader Crystal Shelley here.

Looking for an editor to bounce ideas off of and thoughtfully provide feedback on the language in your writing? Send me a message on my Contact page.