Testy Copy Editors

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Forum locked This topic is locked, you cannot edit posts or make further replies.  [ 12 posts ] 
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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 7:02 pm 
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Good Godamighty, that's bad.


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 9:44 pm 
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A couple of question marks would have fixed it. But maybe we're reading the "spellchecked" version.


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 9:58 pm 
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It's no worse than a gazillion other press releases I've read.<p>I honestly believe the basics of writing aren't taught in schools anymore. Many mangled press releases are written by people who hold degrees. <p>Which reminds me of a joke I made up ages ago:<p>"I have a degree in communications."
"Oh? And what does that mean?"
"Well, y'know -- like, communications."


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 2:23 am 
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Oeditpus Rex:
I honestly believe the basics of writing aren't taught in schools anymore.<hr></blockquote>I'd have to agree. In my wayward grad-student youth, I taught freshman composition ["English for Primates"] at the University of California, Irvine. With few exceptions, my students arrived without grammar basics, much less any clue as to how to write a coherent sentence. The majority of them had SAT scores high enough to exempt them from the remedial composition class. I hear that twenty years later, it isn't any better.<p>D


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 11:07 am 
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Location: Lesotho, where it does snow
I do not think that awful bit of pen-to-paper (or keystroke-to-screen) is even an actual complete sentence. However, it goes right up there with the coffee beans giving their "lives" for your refreshment on the list of how to get fired from a job that requires writing skills.


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:30 pm 
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Location: Heart of Global Warming
More Testy Than Thou: A Commentary


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 2:43 pm 
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by DominEditrix:
More Testy Than Thou: A Commentary<hr></blockquote><p>Holy crap. Is that the result of Rush Limbaugh getting into Hunter S. Thompson's stash, or vice versa?


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 3:01 pm 
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>
More Testy Than Thou: A Commentary<hr></blockquote><p>Toward the bottom of the page comes this: Journalism As A Character Defect.


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 3:18 pm 
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Pete Hahnloser:

Toward the bottom of the page comes this: Journalism As A Character Defect.
<hr></blockquote><p>That one is interesting. Some of the others are wacky.<p>Ah, here's his bio.<p>Does Blanp have a long-lost brother?<p>[ January 12, 2004: Message edited by: SeaRaven ]</p>


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 Post subject: Re: The worst sentence I have ever read.
PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 5:41 pm 
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Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am
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Location: Baltimore
<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>
Toward the bottom of the page comes this: Journalism As A Character Defect
<hr></blockquote><p>. . . which includes: "Since most of the people in any newsroom fit this pattern, a culture has evolved which supports the reporters in their natural inclinations."<p>He's referring to a culture in which daily deadlines and understaffing, among other things, lead to a failure to see or report the big picture; in which a lack of expertise or inclination to develop it leads to an emphasis on the politics concerning a subject, but not the subject itself.<p>An interesting read with many valid points made. <p>Having seen his picture and read his bio I keep thinking of Uncle Duke, but i suppose that's my problem. If only he'd said that copy editors are unappreciated saints (or sinners who try to save the world from reporters and their editors) . . .<p>[ January 12, 2004: Message edited by: Wayne Countryman ]</p>


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