#134

The Times, July 7, 2017

Yet another wrong verb. The past tense of ‘spring’ is ‘sprang’. ‘Sprung’ is the past participle and the passive, eg ‘the boat had sprung a leak’ or ‘he was sprung from jail’. See Post 130 for my handy chart of verbs.

‘Purrfect’ was already worn out in the 1950s. It is pathetic to see it now.

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I cannot stress strongly enough that it takes years of experience to make a good sub-editor. When I was a junior sub, almost everyone else in the department was older and wiser, and the benefit of their experience was passed down to me. A chief sub would often point out how things could be improved. These days most older subs have been dispensed with and there is no one to teach or mentor the younger ones. Staffs have been so reduced that no one has time to guide anyone else.

This clinic is an attempt to pass on my experience using real examples. I would love to receive items from others as I do not read every paper every day. I will add new entries as I come across them.