Monday, February 16, 2009

Things I Have Learned While Proofreading This Evening

  • "Coffeehouse" (the noun) is one word, not two.
  • "Forebear" is strictly a noun used to refer to one's forefathers and foremothers; "forbear" is the verb for "to restrain oneself from doing something" (though it can also be an alternate spelling for "forebear").
  • A sepoy is a native of India in the military service of a European power (most frequently the British).
  • Xbox has a capital X, no other cap. (I thought it was "xBox." I blame this ignorance on my mother, who refused to allow us to have a Nintendo when I was growing up and hence has deprived me of all video game knowledge as well as a fair amount of eye-hand coordination.)
  • (Per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "video game" is two words, no hyphen.)
  • Hatton Garden ("Garden" definitely singular) is the jewelry district of London.
  • The word "moil" means "to work hard; drudge" or "to whirl or churn ceaselessly."
  • The word "execration" can mean the act of cursing, the curse itself, or an object of a curse.
  • Quite a few interesting facts about Zoroastrianism.
  • Laini Taylor writes like a goddess, and her collection of three novellas about kisses, Lips Touch: Three Times, coming out from us in the fall, is as delicious as Daniel Craig holding a Jacques Torres chocolate bar.

13 comments:

  1. "Moil" is an unusually good word. For some reason, it is reminding me of "marl"--maybe because it rhymes with "soil."

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  2. Moil rhymes with toil ;) The first time I read the post, I thought I had read 'toil', then realized it must've been something else. How strangely the subconscious works.

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  3. Ooooo....I would have messed up "forebear" and "forbear." *rushes back to grammar books*

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  4. You ladies and your Daniel Craig.

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  5. Whoa . . . Jacques Torres and Daniel Craig in the same sentence--it's too early in the morning for this.

    I can't wait to read Laini's latest!

    Sarah Frances

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  7. Hmmm.

    I always thought "Coffee House" was two words if it was referring to a coffee shop, but one word (coffeehouse) when referring to the social gathering. Have I been wrong all this time? *looks sheepish*

    Ooooh...I love proofreading! :oD

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  8. man I love proofreading. You learn all kinds of weird stuff. thanks for the heads-up about "forbear" and "forebear." I don't think I knew the difference!

    I bet video game would have a hyphen if you were using it as an adjective...maybe?

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  9. Laini's writing, Daniel Craig... okay, now I have to go get that chocolate...

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  10. If "coffeehouse" is one word, then "highschool" should be. When I read a sentence that has "high school" it feels wrong.

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  11. I always like to use the difference between "therefor" and "therefore" as an illustration of why it's actually important to pay attention to spell check.

    As for Sepoy--look up the Sepoy Mutiny when you have the time. Fascinating stuff.

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  12. Nor is it "XBox," as I see it often written. ;-)

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  13. ...and the phrase "high school kids" reads like 8th graders smoking pot.

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