grammar

Copy-wise: You’re using these words incorrectly – or are you?

By Tony Hallett / October 10, 2016

This post was first published on 7 October 2014. We spend a fair amount of time both blogging and talking to clients about style, grammar, tone of voice and so…

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What is a… copy-editor / sub-editor?

By Shirley Siluk / October 5, 2016

We’re all familiar with editor and reporter characters from movies set in magazine or newspaper offices. Think the Robert Redford/Dustin Hoffman reporter duo in All the President’s Men, Meryl Streep’s…

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Copy-wise: ‘Less’ and ‘fewer’ are not interchangeable

By Shirley Siluk / October 3, 2016

Once you understand the difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’, it’s hard to mistakenly use one in place of the other. Saying ‘fewer puppies’ or ‘less water’ simply feels right, while…

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Copy-wise: It's only one word, but where you place it matters

By Shirley Siluk / September 26, 2016

“Only I have eyes for you.” “I have only eyes for you.” “I have eyes for only you.” Read each of those sentences above again and think about how they…

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Biggest not best – avoiding bias in lists easy as 'ABC'

By Tony Hallett / January 12, 2014

Time and time again when we edit copy (this greying editor in particular likes to edit long-form content on paper) you will see margin notes where we scribble ‘ABC’. What…

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Poor grammar? That’s an opportunity for brands

By Tony Hallett / April 26, 2013

There is a perception that content from brands is inferior to the quality produced by the media. Of course, we regularly consume poor-quality media and great brand content but I…

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What is… the Oxford comma?

By Tony Hallett / February 8, 2013

What is the Oxford comma? Its alternative name – the serial comma – provides more of a clue. It’s the difference between apples, oranges, and bananas AND apples, oranges and…

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Random acts of capitalisation

By Aled Herbert / December 5, 2012

You know about random acts of kindness. Or random acts of violence. Well in content you’ll have come across what we like to call random acts of capitalisation.   Should…

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Should I spell ‘internet’ with a capital ‘i’?

By Tony Hallett / December 2, 2012

Proper nouns usually come with capital letters. Think of your name, countries, political parties and hundreds of other categories. In theory, we should spell the internet as ‘the Internet’. There…

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Style guides – a brief guide

By Tony Hallett / April 12, 2012

We recently came across this interesting piece – 11 frequently botched AP style points on ragan.com – and it got us thinking about style and its quiet twin, consistency, across non-media…

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