Ever since I graduated from the J-School and started writing
for a living, I’ve been walking around with a library of style guides in my
brain. I’m surprised I can still hold my head up, or that I haven’t succumbed
to spontaneous mental combustion.
Good news, Internetlings. Apparently, we’re on the cusp of a
paradigm shift that will enable me to hit delete and clear my brain of everything
I ever learned about words and how to spell and use them from the plethora of
style guides and manuals that have festered in our society. The principle of
collective collaboration is about to prevail.
Spell checker was the first slide down the slippery slope.
Although, you’ll find that relying too heavily on its bodacious cerebral brawn will
cause you to end up with sentences such as, “The team razed the school mascot
under the setting son.”
An even newer brave new world entered my orbit the other day
when I mentioned to a client that the editors of the 2013 AP Stylebook had decided
the right way to write “healthcare” is “health care.” The client was having
none of that, primarily because the content in question was for a website, sometimes
written Web site or web site depending on whom you choose to Like or Follow. “In
a case like this,” she said, “we defer to which search term is more popular
among online users.” Survey says? Healthcare, one word – take that, loser AP!
Hi Malia, I enjoyed this post as a fellow spelling purist! Looking forward to working with you.
ReplyDelete-Sharon
DGLM
Sharon,
DeleteThanks for your thumbs up. Sometimes I think I'm the only lone soul who gives a hashtag about purity of prose.
-Malia
MaliaMania