Comments on: “Emeriti” or “‘emeritus,’” not “emeritus”

By: Paul Lundgren

Paul Lundgren — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:17:31 +0000

By the way, things are heating up nationwide on this topic. From the Onion:

Four copy editors killed in ongoing AP Style, Chicago Manual gang violence NEW YORK—Law enforcement officials confirmed Friday that four more copy editors were killed this week amid ongoing violence between two rival gangs divided by their loyalties to the The Associated Press Stylebook and The Chicago Manual Of Style. “At this time we have reason to believe the killings were gang-related and carried out by adherents of both the AP and Chicago styles, part of a vicious, bloody feud to establish control over the grammar and usage guidelines governing American English,” said FBI spokesman Paul Holstein, showing reporters graffiti tags in which the word “anti-social” had been corrected to read “antisocial.” “The deadly territory dispute between these two organizations, as well as the notorious MLA Handbook gang, has claimed the lives of more than 63 publishing professionals this year alone.” Officials also stated that an innocent 35-year-old passerby who found himself caught up in a long-winded dispute over use of the serial, or Oxford, comma had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

By: Beverly

Beverly — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 01:46:20 +0000

OK, I see now. You DO have the quote marks around emeritus, which I didn’t notice. And the last part is a joke. All righty.

By: Beverly

Beverly — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 01:18:10 +0000

@hbh1: You say this clears up “the emeriti/emeritus dealy-bob,” but I don’t understand what error is being pointed out here, or what this post has helped you understand.

@mlatsch: Are you saying there should be quote marks around the word “emeritus,” or are you saying the word “emeriti” should be used? My Webster’s New World dictionary makes no mention of a definition of “cognitive dissonance.”

I didn’t work on this story, but I am a copy editor at the DNT, so I’m curious.

By: Herzog

Herzog — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:31:21 +0000

We couldn’t pack any more nerdliness into this peanut jar if we processed and hydrolyzed it. Would somebody please say something dangerous? Or write a dangerous song perhaps? About improper grammar. I need you to compel me toward a jealous rage over your creative lawlessness here. All this talk of hyphenation doesn’t seem to be working.

To illustrate this point of what happens when we go into something half-assed, witness what happens to the Queens tonight at Lambeau.

By: K. Praslowicz

K. Praslowicz — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 23:10:46 +0000

Since we're talking about the DNT's editing, and I haven't picked up a print copy in years -- have they fixed Family Circus yet?

By: Soren d'Hillside

Soren d'Hillside — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:20:08 +0000

DaVe and Paul, I trust each of you is using a Merriam-Webster dictionary, the most frequent choice of English major professionals.

By: emmadogs

emmadogs — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 19:56:17 +0000

May I just say that two of my favorite things about Duluth are: the obsession with appropriate use of language and punctuation that is shared by all citizens except those making awnings for local bars; and the DNT’s use of whack-hyphen-job locals in their lead stories.

I totally love this city.

By: Paul Lundgren

Paul Lundgren — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 18:11:14 +0000

Once it settles, I’m not going to be the one who wipes up the hyphen. That’s all I’m saying.

By: DaVe

DaVe — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 18:02:33 +0000

Paul, “dust-up” is a hyphenated word in my dictionary, though it appears without the hyphen elsewhere. We all talk pretty one day.

By: Claire

Claire — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:31:23 +0000

hbh1, I am certainly not advocating that Fetzer be censured — he indeed is free to spout whatever crazy nonsense he wants to spout, and to associate himself with UMD when doing so. My point is that this is not a news story that the DNT should be wasting ink on, that Fetzer is spouting this nonsense. It’s the kind of crap I’d expect to read in the Weekly World News. This would, however, be a news story if Fetzer was spouting his latest theories, and UMD censured him, or responded in some way to him. Now, that would be information that would be pertinent to our lives.

Anyway, Fetzer now has taken over Progressive Action, and is posting all sorts of links to other conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook. Sigh…