For those of you of the book-learned persuasion, two links I’ve come across in the past few weeks that I’m sure you will enjoy. First up, the Economist’s style guide. Sample goodness, from the “Some Common Solecisms” section:
Acronym: this is a word, like radar or NATO, not a set of initials, like the BBC or the IMF.
Critique is a noun. If you want a verb, try criticise.
Oxymoron: an oxymoron is not an unintentional contradiction in terms but a figure of speech in which contradictory terms are deliberately combined, as in bitter-sweet, cruel kindness, sweet sorrow, etc.
That, my friends, is some quality pedantry.
Up second, a spelling contest, from a 1955 issue of Esquire, of all places. These are supposed to be words most often misspelled by some group of smartypants. According to the magazine, in the 1950s, the median score was six, twelve put you in the ninetieth percentile, and eighteen “put you on the level of a university English professor.”
I took it at work, and got ten out of 20 right. Two co-workers also got ten right, but not the same ten, and they’re both smartypants.
Consider this a challenge, and leave your score in the comments. The words, spelled sortakinda phonetically, are after the jump.
No cheatin’.
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