As long as we're picking on the WashPost...

SusanV · **Posted:** Mon Jul 26, 2004 5:59 pm

hed from a story in today's Style section:"A Bur Under the Saddle: Michael Moore in Texas" OK, I give up. WTF is a "bur"? I get an early edition, but it's still that way on the website lo these many hours later.

Lee · **Posted:** Mon Jul 26, 2004 6:07 pm

A bur is a kind of thorn that grows on weeds.
I hope this image link works[ July 26, 2004: Message edited by: Lee ]

Matthew Grieco · **Posted:** Mon Jul 26, 2004 6:10 pm

Merriam-Webster's says this under "burr":1 usually bur a : a rough or prickly envelope of a fruit b : a plant that bears bursI don't buy the "usually bur" business, though. I've only seen "burr," and until Lee's post I would never have imagined "bur" to be an acceptable spelling, let alone the preferred.I'm also willing to bet that a copy editor at the Post was suckered into following the dictionary rather than an acceptable spelling that is far more common, leading to much headscratching by readers of reasonable intelligence. I'll be damned if "bur" was in the first draft of the headline.[ July 26, 2004: Message edited by: Matthew Grieco ]

Le Petomane · **Posted:** Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:00 pm

A quick search of Google News for "burr under" and "bur under" shows the double-r spelling leading by 17-1, with the one being the Washington Post headline under discussion. All 18 hits employ the old "under the saddle" cliche.I'd guess that a Lexis search would probably show about the same ratio.

SusanV · **Posted:** Mon Jul 26, 2004 8:15 pm

I have never in my life seen "bur." I wouldn't allow it under any circumstance. I doubt any readers thought that hed was anything but a mistake. (Lee excepted.)

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Mon Jul 26, 2004 9:09 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by SusanV:
I have never in my life seen "bur." I wouldn't allow it under any circumstance. I doubt any readers thought that hed was anything but a mistake. (Lee excepted.)<hr></blockquote>
The people to beat over the head about this are Mirriam-Webster one suspects

Lee · **Posted:** Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:06 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Matthew Grieco:
Until Lee's post I would never have imagined "bur" to be an acceptable spelling, let alone the preferred.<hr></blockquote>I would always spell it "burr". In my post, I went with what Susan quoted because there are spelling differences between Australian English and US English and I'm sure I don't know all of them.

Gatekeeper · **Posted:** Tue Jul 27, 2004 1:57 am

Burr, err, brrr! I'm cold!

majorbabs · **Posted:** Tue Jul 27, 2004 8:41 am

Actually, we have done stories on the "bur oak" here in the mighty Midwest. I always wanted to change it to "burr" but was told that's incorrect by the science/agriculture experts.Maybe it's like the 4,127 spellings of al-Queda we've all seen.

CopyMonkey · **Posted:** Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:08 am

Merriam-Webster isn't the official source dictionary per AP style, though -- I believe that's Webster's New World. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of that on hand to check burr/bur (though I would agree that I've always seen "burr" elsewhere).

Wayne Countryman · **Posted:** Wed Jul 28, 2004 12:58 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by CopyMonkey:
Merriam-Webster isn't the official source dictionary per AP style, though -- I believe that's Webster's New World. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of that on hand to check burr/bur (though I would agree that I've always seen "burr" elsewhere).<hr></blockquote>I'm surprised to find that Webster's New World (3rd College Edition) prefers "bur" -- a spelling I can't remember ever seeing. It has "burr" as an accepted variation.

SusanV · **Posted:** Wed Jul 28, 2004 2:33 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Wayne Countryman:
I'm surprised to find that Webster's New World (3rd College Edition) prefers "bur" -- a spelling I can't remember ever seeing. It has "burr" as an accepted variation.<hr></blockquote> Cripes, so does NW 4. I had no idea. It's certainly not how I learned to spell it back in the dark ages!

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Wed Jul 28, 2004 9:57 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by CopyMonkey:
[QB]Merriam-Webster isn't the official source dictionary per AP style, though -- QB]<hr></blockquote>
A clarification on that. I deliberately don't keep dictionaries from other countries on hand at the office and am presuming online M-W comes from the same tradition as the AP prescribed dictionary.

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:03 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Paul Wiggins:

A clarification on that. I deliberately don't keep dictionaries from other countries on hand at the office and am presuming online M-W comes from the same tradition as the AP prescribed dictionary.<hr></blockquote>Different lexicon, different etymologists, different organization, different publisher, different just about everything except the "Webster's" in the title.

paulwiggins · **Posted:** Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:28 pm

Someone should sue. I'm going to have to fork out and hide it from the reporters, not that they go lurking through the one we do use :-)[ July 28, 2004: Message edited by: Paul Wiggins ]

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Thu Jul 29, 2004 8:05 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Paul Wiggins:
Someone should sue. I'm going to have to fork out and hide it from the reporters, not that they go lurking through the one we do use :-)[ July 28, 2004: Message edited by: Paul Wiggins ]<hr></blockquote>"Webster's" is not a copyright name.

majorbabs · **Posted:** Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:22 am

FYI, Oxford Essential, American edition, has "bur" as a variation of "burr" and "burr" is obviously the preferred use, based on space ratio.

Testy Copy Editors

As long as we're picking on the WashPost...

Who is online

What They're Saying

Useful Links