If Black is up, do we capitalize White?
I’ve devoted quite a bit of thinking time over the past several weeks on the question of whether white as a racial designation should be...
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Mark Allen
Jan 7, 20205 min read
Style guides differ on Word of the Decade: A status update on the epicene they
An earlier version of this column was published on the blog of ACES: The Society for Editing. This was last updated on August 24, 2021....
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Mark Allen
Nov 20, 20173 min read
If ‘they’ is singular, does ‘themself’ naturally follow?
Respected reference sources have signaled a modicum of acceptance of the pronoun they in a singular sense. The Associated Press Stylebook...
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Mark Allen
Dec 29, 20163 min read
Great writing informs great copy editing
The ending lines of The Great Gatsby make any good list of the best closings in literature. The last line is perfect while the...
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Mark Allen
Apr 15, 20162 min read
Possessive of a title in quotes? Just don’t
English has a lot of conventions—best not to call them rules—that sometimes fall apart when we try to apply them in all possible...
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Mark Allen
Oct 30, 20153 min read
In standard usage, ‘daylight saving time’ wins out
The end of daylight saving time offers an opportunity for people prone to correcting to remind us the middle word is singular—”daylight...
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Mark Allen
Apr 23, 20142 min read
Bard Day celebration offers much to read about
It’s Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, more or less, and all of Twitter is a stage for stories about the immortal one. There is no time for...
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Mark Allen
Mar 3, 201414 min read
ACES 2014 National Grammar Day Tweeted Haiku Contest entries
Here are the entries in the National Grammar Day Tweeted Haiku contest. If you don’t see your entry here, be assured it was considered if...
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Mark Allen
Nov 4, 20133 min read
A little bit of what I’ve learned on Twitter
The following column originally appeared on Copyediting.com in two parts. As I have no space limitations, here it is in its entirety for...
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Mark Allen
Aug 28, 20132 min read
If someone says eye-licking is causing infections, check it out
I wrote a blog entry for Copyediting about the failure of a reporter and editors at the Guardian to check the sources on a story about a...
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Mark Allen
Jul 26, 20133 min read
Habitat for Humanity house is a fitting tribute to a nice guy
My plan was to drive back to Grand Rapids, Mich., today and spend Saturday pounding nails and raising walls on a Habitat for Humanity...
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Mark Allen
Jul 24, 20131 min read
More from me at the Copyediting newsletter blog
More from me at the Copyediting newsletter blog I’ve joined the blog team at Copyediting newsletter, so I’ll be posting there regularly...
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Mark Allen
Jun 19, 20133 min read
Made-up ‘rules’ may offer a path to clarity
Columnist and language expert Ben Yagoda resorted to all caps in a brief Twitter exchange on the difference (if any) between “since” and...
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Mark Allen
Mar 4, 20133 min read
Here are the winning winners in the Tweeted Haiku Contest
Arika Okrent’s 17 syllables captured the hearts of the judges, but there were scores of worthy entries in the National Grammar Day...
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Mark Allen
Mar 4, 20133 min read
arika okrent / the judges loudly proclaim / winning haikuist
Arika Okrent tapped into a universal feeling of realization and dread when she wrote her winning entry for the 2013 National Grammar Day...
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Mark Allen
Mar 1, 20131 min read
Kory Stamper: Celebrate, don’t denigrate, this National Grammar Day
Smug peevery is not the way to mark National Grammar Day, lexicographer Kory Stamper reminds us: A Plea for Sanity this National (US)...
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Mark Allen
Feb 27, 20132 min read
Tweeted-haiku contest returns this week
March 4 approaches, and with it comes National Grammar Day, a day we celebrate with the annual Tweeted Haiku Contest. Last year, we had...
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Mark Allen
Nov 6, 20123 min read
Warning: political content; but politics affects us all
This has nothing to do with words and everything to do with politics. For that, I apologize, but I hope you read it anyway. Gov. Romney...
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Mark Allen
Oct 9, 20122 min read
Funny, but it’s still rock ‘n’ roll to me
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (small) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I’ve been tweeting in lieu of blogging lately, but sometimes a matter...
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Mark Allen
Mar 4, 20123 min read
Allow me to dangle the winning haiku in front of you
Judging for the 2012 National Grammar Day Tweeted Haiku Contest was as difficult as any in the history of the event. Nearly 200 entries...
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Mark Allen
Feb 29, 20122 min read
March forth and write haiku to celebrate National Grammar Day
Without grammar, your haiku would fall to pieces. I think I’ll tweet that. The National Grammar Day Tweeted Haiku Contest is back. Nearly...
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Mark Allen
Feb 9, 20124 min read
Don’t discount the editor when the focus is ‘online-first’
Newspapers have been quick to tell us about the latest trends and help us prepare for a changing world. But they’ve been amazingly slow...
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Mark Allen
Dec 26, 20111 min read
I don’t know why you say ‘good-bye’
I’d like to say goodbye to “good-bye.” The unhyphenated “goodbye” gets nearly five times as many Google hits. “Goodbye” is the preferred...
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Mark Allen
Jul 27, 20113 min read
Grammar Girl’s book for students is approachable, orange
Grammar was not my subject. In high school English class, we did a unit on grammar every semester. It always seemed to be the same thing...
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