Sunday, June 28, 2009

Ain't works, or it can

Ain't it? My English teachers didn't like the word ain't, but I didn't mind the usage in the headline "Ain't no stoppin' former Dolphins RB Mercury Morris now". Morris, perhaps the most outspoken player from the undefeated '72 Miami Dolphins, often uses ain't to make a point. Ain't may not be proper English, but the point is to communicate. Morris does that well.

 Ain't nothing wrong with that.

 More Britishisms: I'm still Americanizing British non-fiction books, and I just came across the word unconducive. Apparently it should be inconducive (not for the general good), although I wasn't familiar with the word (yes, I'd heard of conducive). The interesting thing is that spell check gave me two options: inconducive and Anacondas. They're not snaking around the bush.

 Apostrophe catastrophe: Yes, I'm a Dolphins fan. I just found this — (S)inger Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio have bought a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins. This makes the Estefan’s the first Cuban American partners to own an NFL team. — on the Internet. It's true, of course, but there's a problem: You don't need an apostrophe in Estefans. It's plural, not possessive.

 And it probably should be Cuban-American.

 Changes in attitude...: I'm not finished on the above (Estefan) blog. It mentions that Jimmy Buffet has also become a minority owner of the Dolphins. Jimmy probably knows when to pull back from the buffet, but his name is Buffett.

 Hyphe-nation: It always bothers me when I see words that need hyphenation (well-known actor) or words that don't need hyphenation. I just came across double-header, as in a baseball doubleheader. No hyphenation needed.

 Spell check: I just found disfunctional in a book I'm editing; it should be dysfunctional.

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ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
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Friday, June 26, 2009

Upbeat lead

Nice lead: I think this is a good lead for a story on the death of Michael Jackson: The King of Pop seemed driven and upbeat in the weeks, even hours, before his death as he rehearsed rigorously for a series of 50 concerts in London that were to begin a late-career comeback.

 Why? Upbeat is a perfect description for a singer/dancer/entertainer known as "The King of Pop." It is a bit long, though.

 Head(line) hunting: I've heard some great and some cruel headlines when famous people died. People always joked that, when Mickey Mantle died, the headline would be "Mantle Traded To The Angels." The best I've seen was "Good Night, Sweet Prince" when two Shakespearean actors, Lawrence Olivier and John Gielgud, died.

 Perhaps the best headline came from the N.Y. Times. It's long — "A Star Idolized and Haunted, Michael Jackson Dies at 50".

 Can you do something better?

Today's quote:
You write with ease to show your breeding,
But easy writing’s curst hard reading.
By Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816)
What does it mean? It seems to mean that you need to work harder to make the reading easier for the reader.

 Web sighting: This isn't really about editing or proofreading, but it does involve writing (putting smartaleck captions on pictures). Check out Pundit Kitchen, which features a lot of interesting political photos and your opportunity to put big wheels in their place (behind their backs, of course).

 Wrong word: "White has the lightening speed and athleticism." I think the writer was looking for lightning.

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ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
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