[STET] Matters

Nobody likes to be corrected when they’re wrong, but it seems like special venom focuses on “grammar Nazis.” They (we) are the people who can tell you when you should use “whom” or an en dash.

 

Of course, nobody should be a jerk when correcting someone or something who is wrong. But it always seemed to me that people who correct other people’s grammar or style, no matter how politely or humbly they do it, get a special type of sneer that mathematicians or scientists don’t get when they correct other people. People seem much quicker to get their backs up. Why is that?

 

I’ve thought about it and I am convinced that when people sneer at those who correct the written word, sometimes buried under that sneer is the idea that what people like me do doesn’t have any value. They’re wrong about that. I’m not going to let anybody imply (not infer) that my profession doesn’t have any value.

 

I hate to come off like I’m beating up on a strawman here but I do get an overall impression, not from anybody I know but in general, that there is condescension toward people in the editorial profession. It’s like people in the more left-brain fields are just too good for the guidance someone like me could provide. Like they’ve mastered a real field and they’re not going to let some diaeresis-pusher like me correct them. Who cares about that stuff, right?

 

With the explosion of the internet and social media over the last 20 years, there are more avenues than ever for people to express themselves in the written word. This makes it more important than ever to have people who could help people, if they want it, express themselves more clearly.

 

We push kids into the STEM professions and of course it’s important to get kids involved in professions that will materially improve the world and provide good jobs. But even in the more scientific fields, you still need somebody who can help you express your ideas clearly and accurately. I’ve been a medical editor for a long time—as of today, 20 years at the same company—and believe me, if people can’t read your paper, it doesn’t matter how brilliant the research is.

 

Those scientific studies you see quoted on weight loss or COVID vaccines or climate change? I’m one of the people who makes sure those data are communicated as clearly as possible. I’m a cog in a machine (I only do peer-reviewed articles part-time at my job) but I do help in making sure the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed in my tiny corner of the world. (Yes, I did look up the style of “i’s” and “t’s.”) I think that’s important because you can be a brilliant scientific mind but may need some help getting your ideas across correctly. That’s what I’m here for, and my philosophy has always been that it’s OK if a doctor’s writing isn’t perfectly polished because that’s not their job; their job is the science. Everybody can use a second set of eyes on something because anybody can make a mistake (God knows how many I’ve made). There’s a difference between a “25-week premature infant” and a “premature 25-week infant” and those are the types of things I’m supposed to catch.

 

I don’t mean to sound self-important in any of this. I’m very lucky to have been able to work in my profession continuously since graduating from college, 20 years of which have been with the same company. I have enough experience now not to listen to anybody who condescends to me or thinks what I do doesn’t have value.