November 2019 – Subbing Clinic

#509

The Times, November 29, 2019

1. The expression is ‘Ooh la la’, not ‘Oh’.

2. There are no accents on ‘la’. (Some authorities say there are but they are in a tiny minority.)

3. If you can’t think of anything better than this frightful cliché, you should not be in the business.

#508

i newspaper, November 2, 2019

From Style Matters:

enormity: This has nothing to do with size. It means the quality of being outrageous or atrocious, as in ‘the enormity of the crime’. Although it is commonly misused, and some authorities are fine with this, I don’t see any reason to get it wrong.

Later in the same piece:

Why ‘but’? This implies something unexpected or different. So are we to assume that i newspaper readers are familiar with the usual weight per foot of Australian saltwater crocodiles, and can make the necessary calculation that this one is a bit on the heavy side? The conjunction needed here is ‘and’.

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.