[299/365] very in awe

[cosmolinguist]

The other day a colleague shared an atrocious line from a document she'd been asked to check over. One of those times we got asked at the last minute to rubber-stamp something that needed comprehensive rewriting in both form and, especially, content.

We weren't allowed to change too much (also always the way with these things!) but even changing what we could took a couple days of our combined efforts.

At the end of it she said something really nice that's going to disappear from Teams tomorrow (along with the highest volume of question marks, exclamation marks, and laugh-emoji reacts that I think I've ever shared in at work), so I figured in the absence of anything else to talk about today I'd record it.

She said "I'm also very in awe of your copy editing!" I tried to thank her graciously. She added "It's such a skill. I just tend to rewrite, but you can just move a word and suddenly it makes much more sense!"

I do love copyediting, because of who I am as a nerd -- it's both easier and more rewarding for me to fix other people's words than to write my own! -- but I would never have thought to describe my skill that way. I like it: it sounds like a magic trick, it has flair.

Comments

[davidgillon]

It's definitely a useful skill, the only problem is it means you can't help seeing how bad some people's writing is! (I swear most of the guys at work had worse written English than the seconded Germans)

[cosmolinguist]

Luckily my linguistics training means that when I'm not being paid/haven't volunteered, I don't care (as long as I can understand someone), until someone's being an asshole and then I can hold this against them. :)

[otter]

Oooh magic! Oooh flair! I do very much agree that you have such skills.

[cosmolinguist]

Aw, thank you. :)

[silveradept]

That's excellent appreciation for your work. (I wonder if the linguistics is helping you reshape things in ways that make greater sense, because you have a more in-depth understanding of how the components of language work.)

Isn't it always the worst stuff that's been forbidden from the rewriting to the degree that it needs?

[cosmolinguist]

It might be. I did proofreading before I did the linguistics degree, and it feels like I'm doing the same thing but at least formal linguistics classes has made things like syntax easier to manage.

Isn't it always the worst stuff that's been forbidden from the rewriting to the degree that it needs?

Yes, yes it is. My colleague and I made this observation as well. :)

[silveradept]

Easier time with syntax is an improvement.

Your colleague and you clearly have the wisdom that comes from long-suffering patience with not great work.

[sfred]

<3

[tarasacon]

🙂
smiley face emoji

The rewards may not be tangible

[jesse_the_k]

But I've certainly learned a lot from your writing style.