September 2025 – Subbing Clinic

#625

It has caused chaos across the region, with places like the Philippines and Hong Kong among those affected

BBC News online, September 24, 2025

What places are like the Philippines and Hong Kong? Instead of ‘like’, use ‘such as’ or ‘including’. In this case it is redundant: a better phrasing would be ‘with the Philippines and Hong Kong among affected places’.

#624

The Ethiopian asylum seeker, whose arrest for sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl sparked protests outside a migrant hotel in Epping, has been jailed for 12 months.

The Spectator evening briefing, September 23, 2025

This is a classic example of the wrong use of a comma. Many people think you should always use one before ‘who’, ‘whose’ or ‘which’, but it depends on the meaning. In this case the part of the sentence about the arrest defines which asylum seeker you are talking about so no comma is wanted. If on the other hand it was a piece of relevant information which did not define him, for example ‘The Queen, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, was given a bouquet’, you would enclose that clause with commas.

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.