Am I going to run out of commas before I finish this proofread?
April 5, 2019 6:49 PM Subscribe
EditorFilter: I'm hip-deep in dissertation proofreading for a very interesting academic paper. However, the author (non-native English speaker, although fluent) frequently uses the construct "...investigate the significance of X, and the associations between,...". What is the name of this construct, and how can I reconstruct the intention of the phrase with fewer words? The authors are submitting to a major journal with an absolute word count.
Best answer: Is this a field you know about? One thing I’ve learned in over twenty years of technical copy editing is that there can be specific reasons for wording that authors use. I don’t think your question as posed is answerable, though I’m sure lots of people will answer it.
posted by FencingGal at 7:16 PM on April 5, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by FencingGal at 7:16 PM on April 5, 2019 [13 favorites]
Do you mean they frequently use the construction "do the x of y, and the z of q" or are they literally frequently talking about investigating one thing and analysing its associations with another? If the latter, you have a bigger problem than phrasing. Either the structure of the paper is making them repeat themselves in redundant ways, or they are discussing too many different investigations for a single paper.
If it's the former, then it's hard to advise without a few more examples.
posted by lollusc at 7:18 PM on April 5, 2019
If it's the former, then it's hard to advise without a few more examples.
posted by lollusc at 7:18 PM on April 5, 2019
ETA: As an example of why this isn’t answerable, if by “significance,” the author means statistical significance, there’s no replacement for that word. If something else is meant, the journal I currently work for would insist on different wording.
posted by FencingGal at 7:23 PM on April 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by FencingGal at 7:23 PM on April 5, 2019 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: I contacted the client and explained that other words would be cut to keep the phrase. I asked if this was a specific expectation for the field.
Verbatim answer: "Oh, my mother used those words all the time and I just like how it looks and sounds. It doesn't really have significance except it's pretty, but I try to put it in everything and the editors always take it out."
[sound of catlet bonking her head on the desk]
Marking this resolved, but also filed in my personal WTF folder.
posted by catlet at 8:03 PM on April 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
Verbatim answer: "Oh, my mother used those words all the time and I just like how it looks and sounds. It doesn't really have significance except it's pretty, but I try to put it in everything and the editors always take it out."
[sound of catlet bonking her head on the desk]
Marking this resolved, but also filed in my personal WTF folder.
posted by catlet at 8:03 PM on April 5, 2019 [27 favorites]
"Oh, my mother used those words all the time and I just like how it looks and sounds. It doesn't really have significance except it's pretty, but I try to put it in everything and the editors always take it out."
I've had some wtfery from clients before, but I think you win. Should we ever be in the same geographic region, ice cream's on me. And since I have social phobia and panic disorder and am terrified of all you people, that's saying something about the level of wtfery here.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 10:08 AM on April 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
I've had some wtfery from clients before, but I think you win. Should we ever be in the same geographic region, ice cream's on me. And since I have social phobia and panic disorder and am terrified of all you people, that's saying something about the level of wtfery here.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 10:08 AM on April 6, 2019 [5 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by lazuli at 6:56 PM on April 5, 2019 [3 favorites]