"Peons of Praise"--The Author Said That

In a restaurant this week, I noticed on the menu that I was being offered a "salsa Verdi".

Yes, they even used the capital letter.

Who knew? Maybe Aida was into salsa.

Maybe "Verdi" is the plural of verde?
Meaning huge amount of green sauce for two people.

Just saw an ad at Facebook: L'Oreal Paris Canada . . . what, they moved it?

Set, You mean Paris isn't in Canada? Who knew?

I'm editing a book. The writing itself isn't terrible, but the authors have a unique and creative approach to punctuation, especially commas and apostrophes.

It's taking a long time. Is that plural or possessive or plural possessive. And I'm having to reread sentences, trying to figure out the meaning. Commas do make a difference. Who knew?

I'm getting too old for this stuff. But I gotta keep going. Money is the root of most of my kvetching.

Some of these jokers don't care. A woman i knew was typing this guy's doctoral dissertation for him. He was speaking about "mentors and mentees," and she wanted me to assure her that the words were spelled correctly. Well, there is no verb, "to ment"--Mentor is a character in the Odyssey, the faithful family retainer who educates Telemachus in his father's absence. So, i went with her to this guy and told him--but he didn't care, he thought it sounded cool, and that it would make him sound clever. So, i told him that whenever he was being clever, he should attach a note so that his transcriptionist would know it, along with spelling and conjugation instructions. He got his back up, but he wasn't signing my check, so i didn't care.

Never mind a note to his transcriptionist. What about a note to his readers?

I've gotten instructions from publishers to leave errors because, according to the author, the errors sound better. Standards ain't what they used to be. In fact, there used to be standards.

Well, in fact, the area in which he was getting his doctorate was not one in which a high level of erudition could be expected. I doubt that anyone who read the dissertation would have spotted the error, as it would have required a knowledge of classic literature from the "western canon."

Mentees could be a misspelling of manatees.

Great thread! It only took me 4 1/2 years to find it.

I don't know if anybody has mentioned it but around here restaurants insist on describing their special of the day as "Roast Beef With Au Jus".

It drives me crazy.

Lizard is spelled lizzerd if you want it to slither through the mouth, and kind of drool over the lips. Poetic license.

Just curious ... but ... I'm not sure why it should drive you crazy. Maybe it's me but I understand it means 'Roast beef with gravy' (in it's own juices). There could a scenario that would be just roast Beef without...no? Unless it's about the usage of the word 'au' plus the word 'with'?

Yup, it makes the restaurant owner look pretty damned stupid.

BINGO!

I was at a business lunch many years ago. The man I was with asked the server for au jus. I tried not to snort.

Latest proofreading find:

The price of deby.

No this is not Debbie Does Dallas. It's a finance/economics book.

Any guesses?

Debt?

Yeah, well...t and y are right next to each other on the keyboard so that's a common error in my missives.

Yes, deb. Debt is the answer.

Panzade, A common mistake for anyone. But this is a proofread. Where was the editor?

Wait, Debt does Dallas does not make any sense, either.

Oh, I suspect it might.