[Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"

Thu Oct 24 09:48:23 EDT 2013

Seven years ago, my book was appallingly copyediting, outsourced to India
(where language rules differ from American or British usage). Since then,
I've despaired of the kind of care that one used to rely on. I make many
errors. I couldn't get any writing done at all if I were super persnickety
with myself whilst drafting. Unfortunately, errors made while composing
tend to persist, and there is no longer a stage where one can rely on an
editor.

My father is a retired tax lawyer. He made his living catching tiny
details. I now rely on him to catch my (many) errors and infelicities.

We all should be so lucky.

On Thu, Oct 24, 2013 at 9:37 AM, Diana Swanson <dswanson at niu.edu> wrote:

> I have noticed more and more such mistakes in scholarly books and text
> books over the last few years; I think that publishers have laid off too
> many editors and copy-editors. The causes? Probably in large part the
> consolidation of publishing companies, the pressure for quarterly profits,
> and the cutting of university budgets (especially state universities) so
> that university presses are being starved of funds.
>
> >>> Mark Hussey <mhussey at verizon.net> 10/24/2013 8:25 AM >>>
>
> "Too fussy" might be a euphemism for "able to use words correctly." ****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* vwoolf-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu [mailto:
> vwoolf-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu] *On Behalf Of *Sarah M. Hall
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 24, 2013 6:40 AM
> *To:* Stuart N. Clarke; woolf list
> *Subject:* Re: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"****
>
> ** **
>
> There was an interview on Radio 4 yesterday with a Scotsman who thinks
> that we are all too fussy about English grammar, and that phrases such as
> 'most beautifullest' are quite acceptable because Shakespeare used these
> constructions. The opposing view was that Shakespeare was writing poetry.
> Downward spiral?****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
>   ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Stuart N. Clarke <stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com>
> *To:* woolf list <VWOOLF at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> *Sent:* Thursday, 24 October 2013, 11:33
> *Subject:* Re: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"****
>
> ** **
>
> Of course, we all make mistakes, but there's just no end to failures in
> copy-editing.****
>
>  ****
>
> There's something just not quite right about:****
>
>  ****
>
> "This great church ... is crowned by the second largest Roman dome after
> St Peter's."****
>
>  ****
>
> In his TV show, Dave Gorman pointed out the faux spectrum, as in something
> like "She has taken all the great tragic roles, from Ophelia to the Duchess
> of Malfi".****
>
>  ****
>
> Stuart****
>
>  ****
>
> *From:* Jeremy Hawthorn <jeremy.hawthorn at ntnu.no> ****
>
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 24, 2013 11:17 AM****
>
> *To:* Stuart N. Clarke <stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com> ; woolf list<VWOOLF at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> ****
>
> *Subject:* Re: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"****
>
>  ****
>
> And another one. In the last week I have seen "interred" used where
> "interned" was correct, and vice-versa. Thus people of Japanese descent
> were interred during WW2, and the body was interned after the funeral.
>
> Jeremy H****
>  ------------------------------
>
> *From:* vwoolf-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu [
> vwoolf-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu] on behalf of Stuart N.
> Clarke [stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com]
> *Sent:* 24 October 2013 11:51
> *To:* woolf list
> *Subject:* Re: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"****
>
> The 2 words are quite different, but I admit that I have to concentrate
> when typing them to make sure I've chosen the right one!  I don't think
> they have (yet?) become interchangeable.****
>
>  ****
>
> Unlike "imply" and "infer": in the Antipodes, even in scientific papers,
> the words are used interchangeably, although I was surprised to find the
> use as early as 1931, e.g.:****
>
>  ****
>
> M. H. C., 'The Scheme of Things', NZ *Evening Post*, Vol. CXII, No. 112
> (7 November 1931), 9: '"Oxbridge" . plainly infers [*sic*] Oxford';
> http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19311107.2.40.1
> ****
>
>  ****
>
> Stuart****
>
>  ****
>
> *From:* Sunjoo Lee <abgrund at naver.com> ****
>
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 24, 2013 10:38 AM****
>
> *To:* woolf list <VWOOLF at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu> ****
>
> *Subject:* [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"****
>
>  ****
>
> Hi, everyone,  ****
>
>  ****
>
> I have been a bit bugged by seeing "principle" when the word has to be
> "principal." ****
>
> I saw that happening in doctoral dissertations and (in a few cases)
> articles from well-known journals, or even books from good publishers. ***
> *
>
>  ****
>
> And this afternoon, from Heidegger's *Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics*(Indiana UP, 1997), I found:
> ****
>
>  ****
>
> "Thus the knowledge of beings in general (*Metaphysica Generalis*) and
> the knowledge of its principle divisions (*Metaphysica Specialis*) become
> a "science established on the basis of mere reason."" (6). ****
>
>  ****
>
> And now I wonder, has "principle" been accepted as an alternate spelling
> of "principal"? Only I haven't been aware of it? ****
>
> Dictionaries I use don't have such information. Has anyone else wondered
> about this? ****
>
>  ****
>
>  ****
>
> Sunjoo ****
>
> ****
>  ------------------------------
>
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-- 
Anne E. Fernald<http://www.fordham.edu/academics/programs_at_fordham_/english/faculty/english_faculty/anne_fernald_28537.asp>
Director of Writing/Composition at Lincoln Center,
Associate Professor of
English<http://www.fordham.edu/academics/programs_at_fordham_/english/index.asp>and
Women's
Studies <http://www.fordham.edu/womens_studies>
Fordham University
113 W 60th St.
New York NY 10023

212/636-7613
fernald at fordham.edu
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