Even if your copy is on message and reads well, small errors can sink you.
Every month, our team — led by proofreader Sarah Muench — shares a proofreading tip or two to help you strengthen your content, one detail at a time.
Disk vs. Disc
Spelling differences like disk and disc can be frustrating. They make us writers ask: Why!?!? In this case, the etymology takes us back to a word that refers to something flat and round. In Latin, [...]
Dietitian or Dietician
You've seen both dietician and dietitian. So, which is correct? In the U.S., dietitian is the preferred spelling, with dictionaries typically including dietician as an accepted variant. The AP Stylebook echoes the dictionary, and those [...]
Carat vs. Karat vs. Caret
We trust you know the correct spelling of "carrot" for the orange root vegetable. But what about carat, karat and caret? Those get a bit more confusing — for most of us, they show up [...]
Born vs. borne
Are our ideas born out of thin air? Or borne? Really, who can care when staring at this cute newborn baby, amiright? For this often-confusing word choice, we turn to the dictionary. (Fun fact: For [...]
Is It Hanukkah or Chanukah?
Happy Hanukkah/Chanukah — you're not wrong! You've probably seen both of these spellings for the Jewish holiday that celebrates the miracle of a one-day oil supply lasting eight days after the Maccabean Revolt in the [...]
Toe the line
This idiom, or a word or phrase that can't be understood outside its cultural context, frequently trips people up. See what we did there? The commonly used phrase comes from track and field, where athletes [...]
Understanding Key Terms: Native American, American Indian and Indigenous
In October, we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day and in November, we honor Native American Heritage Month. So it’s a good time to brush up on certain terms, as it’s important to understand key distinctions and [...]
How to Determine Adjective Order
You likely order your adjectives without thinking about it. It feels natural to say "a big, Irish wolfhound." You wouldn't say an "Irish big wolfhound." That's because if English is your first language, you naturally [...]
When to Use Semicolons
Love them or hate them (our proofreaders love them!!!), the semicolon is a tool in your grammar arsenal. This punctuation — ; — can be used to join two independent clauses together without using a [...]
Jell vs. gel
Jell-O is a gelatin dessert. Put that on your proofreading plate and eat it. Sometimes the English language is full of grammar surprises, like this homophone: jell/gel. Jell Jell is only a verb. It can [...]