Nothin'. I just wanted you to face me so she could get behind ya.

Mal ,'The Train Job'


Natter 73: Chuck Norris only wishes he could Natter  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Strix - Jan 20, 2015 10:47:08 am PST #16299 of 30000
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger

Thanks, guys!

Connie, I did tell the guy who did the phone interview with me yesterday that I am more familiar with CMoS. I plan on actually taking my computer with me (it's a wee one, slips into my interview bag) and even though they probably won't let me use it, tell them:

"I have exemplary prooreading skills, but since I *am* a meticulous proofer, I would normally have the 2014 AP Style guide, the in-house style guide and X dictionary called up in tabs on my work computer. EVERY proofreader has to check multiple sources while proofing, no matter how long they have been editing. Any errors I make during this sample wouldn't be errors I made with my normal workflow set up, and within a few days of working with your team and getting a feel for your in-house preferences, I am confident my error rate would be low to zero. And my usage of checking multiple sources doesn't impede my speed; it increases it in the long term, because then I don't have to look up that particular query again."

Or some such.

(Guys, I'm NERVOUS! I am completely in control of my skills and am a hell of a good interview, but I haven't NOT been my own boss for years! Even though this is so flexible it actually, incredibly would work well with my weird insomnia/depression stuff that's made 40 hour, 8-5 jobs such a disaster for me.)


erikaj - Jan 20, 2015 10:48:08 am PST #16300 of 30000
"already on the kiss-cam with Karl Marx"-

I don't think I got why people ate raw tomatoes until I was, like fifteen, because of the weird, mushy, unripe ones that taste like soap. Then, I finally got a good one.


Strix - Jan 20, 2015 10:48:40 am PST #16301 of 30000
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger

Heh, Connie, in doing my quizzes and studying, I found that it's verboten now in AP to use the phrase "illegal immigrant," since the word illegal should refer to actions and not states of being or persons.

I was all YAY!


Steph L. - Jan 20, 2015 10:49:21 am PST #16302 of 30000
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine

It is drunken, not drunk, driving.

Medical editing has ruined me for the colloquial use of "data" as singular (i.e., "The data is lost!" -- and even typing that makes my teeth itch). In medical writing, "data" is always ALWAYS plural, no exceptions, we don't care if NPR makes it singular, you make it plural or you die.

But most of the world makes it singular, which makes me twitchy.


Connie Neil - Jan 20, 2015 10:54:54 am PST #16303 of 30000
brillig

What phrase is used to denote a person who has entered the country without going through official channels?


erin_obscure - Jan 20, 2015 10:58:05 am PST #16304 of 30000
Occasionally I’m callous and strange

unauthorized?


erin_obscure - Jan 20, 2015 10:59:50 am PST #16305 of 30000
Occasionally I’m callous and strange

roasted beets are a wonderful thing to have around, and for some reason are delicious^10 when paired with goat cheese. I may be dairy-averse for the most part, but just the teeniest smidge of chevre on a roasted beet is a mini-holiday for my mouth.


meara - Jan 20, 2015 11:00:47 am PST #16306 of 30000

Undocumented


Strix - Jan 20, 2015 11:01:01 am PST #16307 of 30000
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger

They recommend a variety of options, all depending on actual specifity and context: [link]


Ginger - Jan 20, 2015 11:02:26 am PST #16308 of 30000
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

What phrase is used to denote a person who has entered the country without going through official channels?

AP style suggests avoiding such adjectives and instead saying how the person entered the country, e.g., Smith, who overstayed his student visa.