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Merrill Perlman

Merrill Perlman is adjunct assistant professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and president of Merrill Perlman Consulting, offering consulting and freelance editing services and training in journalism, grammar and usage. Among her clients are The New York Times, ProPublica and the Poynter Institute. She writes the "Language Corner" column and blog for Columbia Journalism Review. Merrill retired in June 2008 after 25 years at The New York Times, most recently as director of copy desks with responsibility for managing 150 copy editors.
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Writers Talk About Writing

Righting Speech: When People Misspell While Talking
Thu Oct 10 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

Here's a shocker: People don't talk the way they write, or the way they should write. They have accents; they slur words or runthemtogether. They leave off the "g" at the end of lots of words, and they mispronounce some, forgetting an "r" in "libary" or "Febuary."  Continue reading...
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Writers Talk About Writing

Spelling Malpractice: Of Vocal "Chords" and Digestive "Tracks"
Thu Sep 26 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

These days, one often sees mentions of "vocal chords" and "digestive tracks." These spellings are both logical, both frequently seen, and both incorrectly spelled (for now).  Continue reading...
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Writers Talk About Writing

Neither Regions: Using "Nor" or Not
Thu Aug 22 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

Neither you nor I set the "rules" of English; we do it together, by using words in certain ways. But we do learn certain "rules," and we can either remember them, forget them, or ignore them. For example, most of us learned that "neither" and "nor" were a pair, like Lucy and Ricky, or peanut butter and jelly.  Continue reading...
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Writers Talk About Writing

Between "Us" and "I": Getting Stuck on Plurals
Wed Aug 14 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

The editors were discussing a story about the health benefits of a particular type of cactus, and maybe others. The story was called "Cacti." "Is it cactuses or cacti?" one asked. "The plural of cactus is cactuses," another said, adding wryly: "Is the plural of circus circi?"  Continue reading...
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Writers Talk About Writing

Pleas-ing Words: Prepositions and Crime
Mon Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

One man "pleaded guilty to DWI." Another "pled guilty of DWI." A third "entered a plea of guilty to DWI charges."

What's going on, aside from way too much drinking?  Continue reading...
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Writers Talk About Writing

Grammar Police: Zealousness over Correctness
Mon Jul 08 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

The New York Times recently posted an opinion piece and a short film about a "vigilante copy editor" who was "correcting" placards at the sculpture garden at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Among the hundreds of comments lamenting the proliferation of bad grammar and misspellings in the world were the inevitable swipes at the grammar and spelling of the other commenters, as well as that of The Times.  Continue reading...
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Writers Talk About Writing

Letter Perfect: Why English is So Hard
Tue Jun 18 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

The cashier at the fancy foods store was from Bosnia. "I have so much hard time with English," she said. "Why when you add one letter does whole word change?" She had asked the customer if she had a "dim," and the customer was flummoxed.  Continue reading...
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