This was originally published on the website of ACES: The society for editing
Editors need to think more like Machiavelli.
You know who Niccolò Machiavelli was, right? He’s famous for having said “The ends justify the means.”
Except he never said that. Or wrote it. Continue reading
Posted in editing
Tagged editing, good grammar, grammar, language rules, Machiavelli, pragmatism, rules
A few months ago, a fellow editor, Paul Cipywnyk, told me and other members of the Editors’ Association of Canada about something perfectly awful that had happened. Continue reading
Posted in language and linguistics
Tagged English words, etymology, language change, language purity, language rules, nitty-gritty, picnic, streamkeepers
An email sent around to members of the Editors’ Association of Canada enjoined members to “Convince [a fellow] editor to become a member of EAC,” which sparked a debate among members as to whether “convince” could – or should – be used there rather than “persuade.” It was pointed out that usage guides note that some people find “convince someone to do something” objectionable, but it was also pointed out that the distinction was unfamiliar even to some EAC members. This provoked a response that ignorance of the law is no defense. Which provoked a response from me on the nature of laws of language: Continue reading
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