|
|
|
I’ve seen “Downton Abbey” mistaken for “Downtown Abbey” so much that I’m beginning to think editors’ skills should be judged on if they get this correct.
The word is Downton - the former abbey is not located downtown. As to why the show’s creators decided to name the place so, I’d like to think it was a clever writer who wanted to test editors.
In the U.S., the show airs on PBS. Note that PBS is acceptable in all references; there’s no need to spell it out.
*****
Another editor test might be the spelling of Dr. Seuss. It’s correct as written – don’t transpose the e and u, and make sure you have two ses at the end of his name.
As most people know, Dr. Seuss was a pen name. In copy, you don’t need to include his real name unless you’re so inspired (his real name being Theodor Geisel).
Fun fact 1: The Seuss movie opening this week – “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” - got the apostrophe correct, according to AP style.
Fun fact 2: Dr. Seuss didn’t originally pronounce Seuss the way you know it. He pronounced it the German way, which rhymes with voice.
From the latest AP style changes to timely copy editing reminders, check out everything you need to know to make your copy clean.
