Lapsing Into a Comma : A Curmudgeon's Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print--and How to Avoid Them
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Lapsing Into a Comma : A Curmudgeon's Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print--and How to Avoid Them
No writer's or editor's desk is complete without a battered, page-bent copy of the AP Stylebook. However, this not-so-easy-to-use reference of journalistic style is often not up-to-date and leaves reporters and copyeditors unsatisfied. Bill Walsh, copy chief for the Washington Post's business desk, addresses these shortcomings in Lapsing into a Comma. In an opinionated, humorous, and yes, curmudgeonly way, he shows how to apply the basic rules to unique, modern grammar issues. Walsh explains how to deal with perplexing situations such as trendy words, foreign terms, and web speak.
Who knew a stylebook could be so much fun? For lovers of language, Lapsing Into a Comma is a sensible and very funny guide to the technicalities of writing and copy editing. Author Bill Walsh, chief copy editor in the business section of the Washington Post, humorously discusses the changing rules of proper print style in the information age. Is it "e-mail" or "email"? According to established grammatical rules, it should be e-mail, but in common practice, we often use email (which should be pronounced "uhmail," but we all know not to do that). Therefore, email is OK.
Walsh does not advocate tossing your AP Stylebook, but he does encourage using your head and not blindly adhering to formal rules. "A finely tuned ear is at least as important as formal grammar," he says, "and that's not something you can acquire by memorizing a stylebook." What about companies that use punctuation in their logos? Walsh cautions against confusing a logo with a name. You wouldn't use "Tech Stock Surge Boosts Yahoo!" as a headline unless you wrote for a very excitable newspaper. And then there's arbitrary capitalization. "The dot-com era has leveled a wall that Adidas and K.D. Lang and Thirtysomething had already cracked," says Walsh, "and suddenly writers and editors faced with a name are asking, "Is that capitalized?"--a question that's about as appropriate as asking a 5-year-old, 'Do you want that Coke with or without rum?'"
The first half of Lapsing Into a Comma zips along, making you think about the intricacies of grammar and editing--all while trying not to choke on laughter. The second half is Walsh's personally crafted style guide. Remember--Roommate: Two m's, unless you ate a room or mated with a roo. --Dana Van Nest
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
A must have for the grammar inclined:
Very fun piece. Recommended for the writer/editor/satirist, when Anguished English just isn't enough and Chicago is a little too much. Great with a martini.
A Stylebook That Makes You Skeptical of Stylebooks:
In his first sentence of his first chapter, Bill Walsh quips that the point of his stylebook (style book?) is to make you skeptical of stylebooks. He's right that existing stylebooks are inconsistent and often ruinously outdated, but there's reason to be skeptical about this here guide as well. Walsh is a longtime (long-time?) copy editor (copyeditor?) in the newspaper business, so the reader certainly benefits from his practical experience. Walsh has plenty of entertaining anecdotes about mistakes and poor... more info
Strunk and White and Walsh:
At last, a worthy successor to Strunk and White! No, I have not abandoned my loyalty to those old masters whose THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE retains its utility and authority after 40 years (however badly I may apply their lessons in practice), but we were sorely in need of an update. Language is alive and usage shifts. The basics may endure for years or decades, perhaps very occasionally for centuries, but change is the only constant. Bill Walsh here offers an invaluable update. From advice on how to use common... more info
Lapsing Into a Comma:
The ascent of the internet has raised usage questions that Strunk and White could never have dreamed of. At the same time, the World Wide We3b has provided a medium in which practically anyone can be a published writer. Even the best writers need editing, and even the best editors rely on style guides. Here is a style guide for this new era. Whether you're editing your own writing or someone else's, you will find Lapsing Into a Comma an invaluable and entertaining resource. Part commentary, part... more info
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