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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.
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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.
