[Forum] Grammar hits the workplace

My wife is one of the 12.2% of Californians who has been out of work for several months. Last week, she applied for a customer service job and their FIRST requirement was that the prospective employee pass a SPAG test. They required at least an 80% grade on spelling, punctuation and grammar. (She go

[Forum] goddamnit or goddammit

Hi everyone :) What's your take on the 'correct' spelling of this word: "goddammit" or "goddamnit". I understand if it wasn't smushed together as one word the correct spelling would be "God damn it". But in a one-word usage, this forum, Microsoft Word and the like are saying "goddamnit" is incorrec

[Forum] Merriam-Webster: Abridged v. Unabridged

Fellow editors, I realize this might not be the best place to ask this question, but since so many of you have answers for everything else I've asked about here, I figured I'd give it a shot. I subscribe to the MW online dictionary--$30 a year or so--because it's easy to use and I hate the ads

[Forum] Spelling out social titles in dialogue (Ms. vs Miss)

So I know that in dialogue, we spell out titles like "Mister" or "Missus." What I can't figure out is "Ms.," which is a different word from "Miss," so that isn't a totally accurate spelling. Obviously "Ms." (pronounced "miz") implies that martial status is unknown, while "Miss" suggests being single

[Forum] Ground base or ground-base?

I am checking a manuscript of a sci-fi novel and I need a little help with the correct spelling of a term (it doesn't come up in any of the online dictionaries I use for spelling confirmation). Here is the sentence in question: "All in all, a standard ground base layout." My question is: should it

[Forum] spelling of Bulgari/Bvlgari

Hi folks, This is about the famous fancy jewelry/watch designer. I have an author spelling it in Times New Roman font as [i]Bvlgari[/i], which I sort of get, because that's how it's spelled on their website, but it's spelled that way because of a graphic design affectation on their part, where t

[Forum] RE: nerve wracking after the noun

[i]CMOS 17[/i] (Section 5.250: "Good Usage Versus Common Usage") recommends this: [i][b]rack; wrack[/b][/i]. The spelling [i]rack[/i] is complex: it accounts for nine different nouns and seven different verbs. Indeed, it is standard in all familiar senses {[i]racking his brain[/i]} {racked with g

[Forum] Can I use British spelling with CMOS punctuation?

I'm copyediting a book containing essays by (exclusively) British authors who wish to retain their British spelling, which we are going to do. However, the book is being published by an American publisher that uses Chicago. I want to change the British punctuation to Chicago (change single to do

[Forum] CMOS style?

Sometimes I'm amazed at how much info the dictionary has! I'm almost in love with the editors of Merriam-Webster's and CMOS. I know, it's sick and pathetic! You could maybe consider "pair" versus "pairs" just a spelling issue, not style. Most of my publishers that I work with instruct their copye

[Forum] RE: nine-one-one OR nine one one?

I can only give my personal view on this. I would not spell all these out. If someone is dialing 911, then the action has to "move." You don't want to slow the reader down by spelling it out. First they have to read the words, transfer them to another part of the brain where the numbers are, and