Things You Learn From Editing ... Take Two

I am bogged down with work, so I offer you this repeat of a column from 2019, with some minor edits. The information should be just as helpful now as it was then.

 

As the old saying goes, it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. (As a multiple-time dog owner, I can attest that this is true!) The saying also applies to writers. No matter how much experience you have, you still can learn more.

I was reminded of this point recently as I've been editing short stories for an anthology coming out next spring. Some of the stories have been written by authors I consider to be short-story experts. Other stories have been written by authors who have had several stories published but who haven't broken out yet, and others still have been penned by authors who are just starting out. And I have learned something from all of them--sometimes simply from reading the stories (even the newest writer can come up with a twist or a turn of phrase that turns my head) and other times from editing them.

It's the editing finds that can lead to especially interesting conversations.

Did you know that SOB is in the dictionary? All caps. No periods. The acronym for son of a bitch is a word all its own, at least according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Even more surprising (to me at least), mansplain has made the dictionary too. I won't bother to tell you what that words means. I'm sure you know.

Turning to homophones, two-word terms often become single words when slang enters the picture. For instance, a woman might go to the drug store to buy a douche bag, but if her boyfriend is being a jerk, she'd call him a douchebag (one word, no space). 

 

Descriptions of animal excrement are usually spelled as two words: horse shit, bull shit, chicken shit. But when you mean "no way" or "a load of not-actual crap" you spell it horseshit and bullshit (again, one word, no space). And when you mean that someone is a coward, you call him a chickenshit--also one word. (Thanks to Michael Bracken for helping me see the horse shit/horseshit distinction.) It's interesting that horses, bulls, and chickens have had their excrement turned into slang words, yet dog shit is just that. Two words meaning excrement. As I told a friend, I might start saying "dogshit," when I want to say "no way!" just to see if it catches on. (Update: six years have passed since I originally wrote this column, and dogshit has yet to catch on. Sigh.)

Keeping with the one-word or two-words questions, do you go into a room or in to a room? This may be an obvious thing for you, but it's one of those little things I find myself double-checking over and over. Same for on to/onto, some time/sometime, and so many more. Each of these words has their proper place, so I like to make sure I use them properly.

Yep, that's a bear on a trampoline.

To answer these questions: you go into a room. Into is the correct word if you are showing motion. The onto/on to question also turns on whether you are showing movement. I jump onto the trampoline. I catch on to my boyfriend's lies. 

 

As to sometime or some time, this question turns on whether you are talking about a period of time (writing this blog is taking some time) or if you mean an indefinite date (I'll get back to you sometime next month).

 

One more thing that I see messed up all the time, so it is worth noting the distinction: When writing about a person with golden hair, use blond as an adjective, no matter the gender of the person you are talking about. When writing about a man with golden hair, use blond a noun. The only time to spell it blonde--notice the e at the end--is when the word is used as a noun for a woman with golden hair. (Yes, this blond/blonde distinction has been noted before here on SleuthSayers, but it is worth repeating.)

  
Well, I hate to cut this column short, but again, I'm short on time. (Ha ha!) (And that's two words for ha ha, per our friend Mr. Webster.)

Do you have any interesting word usage issues/spelling knowledge you'd like to share? Please do. I'm always eager to learn something new.