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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

Participial Con-Fusion: When Possession is the Law
Wed May 22 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

WARNING: Grammar lesson ahead.

If you ever knew what a "participle" was, you may have forgotten. Same with the word "gerund." And if you ever heard the term "fused participle," you probably zoned out completely.  Continue reading...
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Unpalatable: A Plateful of Similar Words
Thu May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

The artists were being praised for their technique in which, the article said, they "use only pallet knives, not brushes." The conference attendees were told that "it's not too early to start whetting your palette for" the food expected to be served. And the article talked about a shipment of "wooden palates infested with the Asian long-horned beetle." Possibly wrong, wrong, and ouch.  Continue reading...
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Writing Tics: The Optics of Metrics
Thu May 09 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

The mayor's op-ed piece urged action on a regional 911 system, which, among other things, would "provide consistent and transparent performance metrics countywide." Alas, the program has not been put into effect, "as a result of the political optics." Jargon and more jargon.  Continue reading...
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Blame Excuses: Where to Point the Finger
Tue Apr 30 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

"Deer Creek blames fire on science experiment," read one headline. "Arsonist blames fire on living conditions," said another. Some people would take umbrage with both of those sentences, asserting that the finger of blame was pointing in the wrong direction.  Continue reading...
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Season Openers: Baseball Terms and Myths
Tue Apr 23 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

It's April, which means that the major league baseball season is once again under way. Time to celebrate America's favorite pastime with a look at the origins of words from the baseball diamond.  Continue reading...
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Its Time: That Ol' Apostrophe Again
Thu Apr 18 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

Of the many small errors that bedevil many writers — and enrage their teachers and editors — there is perhaps none so simple to understand, and explain, than the use of "it's" when "its" is meant.  Continue reading...
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Grammar Behaving Badly
Tue Apr 09 00:00:00 EDT 2013
By Merrill Perlman

English teachers used to drill into students that they did not "feel good." They "felt well." It was the corollary to "I feel bad," not "I feel badly," to which many teachers would reply something like: "Well, maybe if you took off your gloves, you could feel better." "Good," "well," "bad," and "badly" all define how you feel, but not in the same way, grammatically.  Continue reading...
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