Is the singular “they” okay?
How many times have you corrected a sentence like this: Everyone should return to their seats. To correct it, you can either do this: “Everyone should return to his or her seat,” or this: “Passengers should return to their seats.” You could also write, “Audience members should return to their seats,” or “Everyone return to your seat.” What if we didn’t have to fix it, though? What if we could just leave the “their” in the sentence? That option may soon be a reality. Over the last several weeks, several prominent language blogs have...
10 distractions corporate communicators ...
For many corporate communicators, the job largely entails writing and editing. At least, that’s what we signed up for. Sometimes, however, it seems like the last thing we get to do during our long, busy days is write. This week, it seemed like every time I opened a document to start writing, I was distracted by a non-writing task. Here’s what I found to be the most common distractions in my job: 1. Unwanted writing advice. I once had an extensive email exchange with a co-worker who wanted us to use “includes, but is not limited to” instead of “includes” in an...
9 tips for better proofreading
Proofreading can be tough. It can seem like no matter how much you read and re-read your content, errors still get through. On the Web, these errors can be corrected easily enough, but in print, that’s another story. Next time you are tasked with proofreading a project, consider the following tips: 1. Avoid getting bored. Though proofing requires extreme focus and concentration, it can be boring. Try something that relieves your mind of the pressure, but enables you to stay focused. This could be chewing gum, tapping your foot, or listening to classical music. 2. Get...
