In the post entitled ‘Ten Tips for Proofreading’, helpful tip number 8 stated: ‘Watch out for homophones: words that sound the same but have different meanings are commonly confused and may be used incorrectly. Examples of these are discreet/discrete and affect/effect.’ In my…
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English Spelling III
Proofreaders and copy-editors have a reputation for being pretty proficient spellers – it’s an essential skill for the role. However, due to the enormity of the English lexicon, which according to AskOxford.com contains at the very least a quarter of a million words,…
English Spelling II
Let’s take a closer look at the origin of some of the confusing English spellings which are a proofreader’s bread and butter! In my last entry I mentioned the impact of the Norman Conquest on our spelling system. Well, in…
English Spelling: ‘absolutely, unspeakably awful’?
We all know that English spelling is difficult to master. The fact that English spelling is tricky, or even, in some people’s opinion ‘absolutely, unspeakably awful’ (Masha Bell, Literacy Researcher) has at least one benefit – it means that there’s…