More than I expected

Meanings: I had seen the term "will o' the wisp" before; in fact, it seemed to mean something that was hard to catch or pin down, say, like Barry Sanders. I looked it up and found a lot more.

will-o'-the-wisp (wĭl'ə-THə-wĭsp')

See ignis fatuus (sense 1).
A delusive or misleading hope.
[From the name Will (nickname for William).]

An erroneous perception of reality: delusion, hallucination, ignis fatuus, illusion, mirage, phantasm, phantasma. See real/imaginary.

English Folklore: Will-o'-the-Wisp

English name for faint, flickering lights seen in marshy areas. It implies a supernatural being, carrying a burning bundle of straw as a torch, to lead travellers astray; there are many other local names (Wright, 1913: 200-1; Briggs, 1976: 231). Tradition varies as to their nature; some informants spoke of them as ghosts, others as fairies. If ghosts, they were usually said to be unbaptized infants, unable to enter Heaven yet not deserving Hell; if fairies, they were usually regarded as a specialized species, but sometimes an individual trickster like Puck or Robin Goodfellow, or a local group such as the pixies, will be credited with this role.

Columbia Encyclopedia: will-o'-the-wisp
phenomenon known also as ignis fatuus and jack-o'-lantern. It is seen at night as a pale, flickering light over marshland. There is no generally accepted explanation for it; it may result from the spontaneous ignition of gases (e.g., methane) produced by the disintegration of dead plant or animal matter, or it may be a form of phosphorescence. The eerie lights have given rise to many superstitions.

Oops: The Associated Press ran a story with the headline Joey Logano wins poll for Nationwide race. Uh, that's pole.

Question: Why do newspapers say that LeBron James is averaging 30 points a game? It's not 30 points a quarter or 30 points a month. Why not say that he's averaging 30 points? We can figure out that it's per game.

Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.

More EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

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• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!