The nit-picking glory of The New Yorker's Comma Queen | Mary Norris
Trki, Kody, Cheaty do
"Copy editing for The New Yorker is like playing shortstop for a major league baseball team — every little movement gets picked over by the critics," says Mary Norris, who has played the position for more than thirty years. In that time, she's gotten a reputation for sternness and for being a "comma maniac," but this is unfounded, she says. Above all, her work is aimed at one thing: making authors look good. Explore The New Yorker's distinctive style with the person who knows it best in this charming talk. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate Follow TED news on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tednews Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector
Komentarze
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Personally, I think the New Yorker is in a commatose condition.
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Anyone who thinks singular 'they' is grammatically incorrect has no business being a copy editor.
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My native Slovenian language is an absolute ruthless dictatorship when it comes to commas, they're all over the place. Meanwhile in English it's much more relaxed and I'm often in a dilemma if I add in too many or too little commas.
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Commas changing the world.
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Man, now I really want to make a Reddit or something all about correcting people's grammar, including our own. That chat group would be my favourite place to chat. This job is my dream job!
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Thanks for commenting on the ridiculous tendency to spell 'mike' as 'mic'. That grates me to no end.
OTOH I have no problem with singular they. -
I, too, think big numbers should always be written as digits, rather than words. How come The New Yorker thinks otherwise?
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Entertaining.
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Asserting that 'they' is only ever plural is simply pig-headed. Singular they is a part of English that has been around longer than The New Yorker.
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"no-nothingism" could also refer to the polarization of politics, where there is no middle ground. Everyone has to have a substantive and radical opinion on every topic and issue.
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Nice, talk.
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Ms. Norris is my hero!
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2:55 that guy is unamused and unimpressed.
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What an odd choice of title. Commas in copyrighting are an area that will prompt a flamewar (or what passes for one among the erudite) almost every time. I watched this expecting to be rolling my eyes at arcane (and archaic) rules about the Oxford comma, semicolons versus commas, and extraneous commas. Instead she chose examples that were more obviously incorrect and mostly textbook errors.
I have to wonder if the talk was pitched as a comma talk, then was perhaps changed to the more pedestrian one we saw after the body count mounted during practice sessions. -
I loved this!
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The "singular they" is actually fine. Let the new Yorker keep their wonky style guide...they aren't holding up progress by doing so.
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silly
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What amount of money will I be paid for doing such a job, and how do I apply for it? Do you have any recommendations for a beginner?
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She's on the front line of presenting thought coherently. Very cool.
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How about everybody instead of everyone?