Diversions
As editors and word enthusiasts, we pay close attention to new entries in the various dictionaries we use to do our work. But in these weird and worrying days, it’s hard to be enthusiastic about the new terms that not…
Season’s greetings circa 1992
As WCEA’s 25th anniversary year winds down, we’re casting a nostalgic look back at Christmas 1992. Brian Mulroney was prime minister. Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” topped the Billboard charts. Fax machines ruled, and CDs outsold cassette tapes…
Canadian songbook
What better time than Canada’s 150th to celebrate our country’s musical legacy? That’s the idea behind vocalist Eleanor McCain’s True North: The Canadian Songbook. This years-long project features recordings of 32 iconic Canadian songs, a concert tour, a forthcoming documentary…
Cheers for the holidays!
The WCEA partners know how to have fun, but navigating deadlines through the holiday season can be a challenge. Here are some suggestions to help you gain some semblance of work-life balance during the dark days of December. Books and…
Word tonic for winter-weary editors
T.S. Eliot wrote that April is the cruellest month. To my mind, January on the West Coast runs a close second. Even though we’re past the winter solstice, the hours of darkness still exceed the hours of light, and the…
A hallowed tradition
Last night, it being Halloween—or perhaps Hallowe’en—I spent a few minutes thinking about apostrophes again. My blog writing schedule seems to be governed by dates of note that may or may not take apostrophes (see my April 1 posting on…
Happy holidays!
’Tis the season when even hard-working language pros aim to kick back a little. Here are a few suggestions from our partners to help you enjoy this festive month: Merrie-Ellen’s musical offering is The Lamb, John Taverner’s setting of the William…
Those lazy hazy crazy days of summer
Earlier this summer, editorial blogs and the editors’ corner of the Twitterverse focused on “Weird Al” Yankovic’s music video “Word Crimes,” with its list of grammatical errors and its condemnation of those benighted individuals who make them. Everyone from the…